Mr. Chairman, Honored Guests, Parents, Teachers, Friends, Fellow Graduates:
Tonight, I have the honor and pleasure of presenting the Valedictory Address for the graduating class of 1961.
Six years have gone by since we entered these halls, talking in excited whispers of mysterious courses and gazing with awe at the many teachers. Now, we are leaving these familiar rooms. Once again we stand on the threshold of a new world, with wonder and anticipation, just as we did when we entered school, twelve years ago.
We are meeting here tonight under the most happy circumstances, tinged with a bit of sadness. For tonight we realize the completion of our high school days. It is a time for joy, delight, and fulfillment. We are a group of friends, meeting on very friendly terms with those who have helped us reach this night, our graduation. Yet, there is sadness when we stop to think that this may be the last time that all of us are gathered together as students, for this may very well be the last occasion at which all of us are present.
We have enjoyed our school days, we should enjoy the days to come, but no night will leave us with memories more fond than this evening.
How we are going to miss you, K.H.S.! We shall always hold precious the memories you have given us! More precious to us is the foundation of our character which you have laid for us. Our teachers have helped to develop in us our potential characteristics for good, and establish the base for our service to mankind. Through the books we have read, and the lives of the great people we have studied, we have been taught the core of a good life.
There are two groups of people to whom we owe a great debt, for without their sacrifices, their patience, their perseverance, and their great faith in us, we could not be here tonight. Through the combined efforts of our parents and our teachers we have carried on, despite many difficulties. This evening is proof of their success:
What of the future? Now, after twelve years of security and fun at school, we graduate into a world which, to say the least, is very insecure. It has often been said that the future is best predicted by events of the past and the present. If so, our present training is our future. As Wordsworth once said, "The child is father of the man." Just as we are in our youth, so we shall be in adulthood. Our natural ability was determined long before we had any say in the matter. Likewise, our opportunity is limited by circumstances. Only application and work are left by which we may gain success. We must all keep in mind that the only way to accomplish anything worthwhile is through a little self-determination and a lot of plain, hard work.
Tonight we leave our dear old school and set out alone in an attempt to accomplish the goal that each one has set for himself. After tonight, our future will be determined not by our parents' decisions or our teachers' decisions, but by our own decisions; so we must choose patiently and wisely. Some of us will go to university to seek further learning, others will go to trade schools or vocational schools, and still others will try to use their accumulated knowledge to advantage in the work-a-day world. The most important thing, however, is not where we go, but in the final accomplishment of our undertaking.
Whether our interests in school have been along academic, athletic, or cultural lines - whether our contribution to school life has been great or small, all of us must recognize the very real contribution this school has made to the life and character of each of us. To each, Kamloops High has given a different record, but to all its message has been the same — of higher ideals and broader views: of sportsmanship, of patriotism, and world-citizenship. And now, as we go out into the world to seek success, let us carry with us, let us put into practice that message. Only thus may our teachers be repaid for their wholehearted interested and unselfish efforts: only thus may the highest purpose of this, Our School, be fulfilled.
The time has come to say, "Farewell!". May I close with this thought.
"Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And departing leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time." Joy Potts
