n
Volume LXI
Number 16
April 27,197»
S AL6MIT6
sepvinq tlie salem colleqc communiti) since 1920
Seniors Speak-Out
Thinking back to August
and the beginning of my
senior year I do not recall any
special feeling associated-
with outset of my last year at
Salem. Now, with the weeks
until graduation so few they
can be counted on one hand, I
have taken time out from
lifespan appointments and
seminar reading to re
examine my thoughts.
The subject of graduation is
approached with mixed
emotions. There is both ex
citement over the beginning
of a new life ‘beyond the
square’ and sorrow at leaving
what has been our home for
the last four years. While the
excitement over the months
to come can be anticipated
later, the sadness at leaving
must be dealt with in the few
short weeks that we have left.
We can soon look forward to
exams and the hectic end of
the year packing race. Before
the final lap, let me ask you to
look back over the last four
years and your experiences
at Salem. Remember the first
nervous weeks as freshmen
and the relief of turning in
term papers? Our sophomore
slump, ‘transferitis’ and our
plans for Soph.-Sr. Banquet?
Junior year we declared our
majors, played Big Sister and
measured for caps and gowns
even though graduation was
over a year away.
Now we are faced with
graduation less than a month
off. The thrill of moving on to
other things is tainted with
sadness at leaving our friends
and classmates, many of
whom we will never see
again. Before closing your
last suitcase, please take
time to reflect over your
experiences here, the friends
you cherish and the years you
will never forget.
Amanda Vannoy
If we were to look at some
statistics to describe our
generation it would be a
pretty gloomy picture.
Alcoholism, divorce, child
abuse and world hunger are a
few of the crisis of today’s
world.
I could stand here and
quote a list of statistics
describing these ills, but I
don’t think this is necessary.
First of all, behind every
statistic is a human being,
often lost among the numbers
and secondly, we are all
convinced that the “Golden
Age’’ is long past.
Regardless of how dark the
picture is, my purpose today
is not to paint it but rather to
ask ourselves where we are in
this picture.
Are we complacently living
day by day or are we
dreamers?
One of the proverbs in the
Bible says, “Where there is
no vision, no dream, the
people perish.”
Broken people are often the
result of broken dreams. If
we dare dream and then hold
on to our dream, we will be a
people with a vision, and to
put it in the biblical language,
we won’t perish.
The kind of dreamer I am
challenging us all to be are
those dreamers who are
willing to nurture and allow
our dreams to become a
natural part of us, so that
their realization is more of a
reality to us than their defeat.
Perhaps many of us
associate dreaming with a
state of rest. In my own ex
perience, my dream - my
dreams, of what I want my
life to be and what I want to
contribute to the world have
been bom during times of
unrest, times where I have
not been satisfied and often
times, when I have been
struggling through an issue.
We have all been accused at
one time or other of living
sheltered lives at Salem. To
me, Salem has not been a
place of shelter but a place of
preparation. It has been a
place where I have been
encouraged to develop and to
nourish my dreams and to
take them seriously. Through
the seriousness with which I
take my dreams, I believe I
can determine to a great
extent the reality of the
“outside” world.
Whether you have three
years or two or one year left
at Salem, MAKE Salem a
place to DREAM.
To illustrate this process of
dreaming, let me compare a
dream to a tree.
When a dream takes root
within us, and it sprouts and
begins to grow, our dream
wUl experience seasons of
sunny springtime, dry and
windy weather, rains and
bleak winters.
A tree does not give up
during the natural season of
the year but it adapts itself
and continues to produce its
fruit - naturally.
If our dreams have in fact
taken root within us, then
they too will adapt to the
season and produce results -
naturally.
The American architect,
D.H: Burnham said, “Make
no little plans; they have no
magic to stir the blood - and
probably themselves will not
be realized. Make big plans;
aim high in hope and work.”
Make Salem a place to
dream - BE A DREAMER.
Paula Myers
The major point I at
tempted to make last
Thursday, was that each and
ever person, whether student,
faculty, administration, or
staff, should make a con
certed and continuous effort
to get to know and understand
oneself. Not just know your
“name, rank and serial
number,” but knowing your
needs, your motivations, your
goals, your feelings...The list
goes on and on essentially,
being constantly sensitive
and aware of yourself and
your reactions to every ex
perience you have.
It is not an easy task to
accomplish, although it may
sound like it at first. With the
busy and hectic lives that
most of us lead, it can be the
simplest thing just to sort of
“go with the crowd,” or live
day by day, never stopping to
analyze and incorporate the
things you are doing for
Salem students in particular,
I feel that college is a good
place to begin this process, as
you are meeting “other” new
people and experiencing
many new activities, life
styles and values.
Alot of people go through
their entire life without ever
really knowing themselves,
or perhaps only seeing a
glimmer. It’s not a fatal
mistake, but rather a very
tragic one, as I feel that an
individual can never really
gain the most from their
experiences or themselves
and others without a good,
strong understanding of who
they are.
This is a challenge which I
present to the entire Salem
community, as well as a
reminder to myself.
Caroline
Wannamaker
Cont'd. on two
Salem College
Founded 1772
A liboml »ris college fcr womea