Chenango Forks High School 1971 Yearbook (Chenango Bridge, NY) - Full Access

If. Threatened by the vicious sneering of the god named Con– formity, we struggle hysterically to pretend. To pretend in a twisted mockery of existence. We pretend to live the lyrics of George Harrison. Or Bob Dylan. Or Leonard Cohen. The writer and the lyrics are irrelev– ant. We merely pretend to live the lyrics because our compan– ions are pretending. To be alluring. Here, packaged inside a school that wins awards for modern architecture and not for modern teaching, we discover our weakness. We resent the implied dissent of an individual be– cause we are not strong enC!ugh to withstand criticism. We try to shame the individual from our midst. But the individual has tasted the intoxicating independence of defiance, and strives to preserve it. Separated from our ronks by intelligence, a special ability, or an unusual interest, the individual has enjoyed the fierce terrors that we believe nonconformity breeds. And he is enviably serene in his solitude. This Thoreau senses the idiocy in shamefully hiding his freakish quirks. _..J~~~ Instead, his uniqueness is cherished and exploite<i to its ful- lest extent. The individual embellishes his uniqueness through expression - via art, music, drama, writing. Via communication, via cre– ativity. Informal organizations aid this process by gifting the individ– ual with an opportunity. An opp_ortunity to further his escape from our shallow world. The individual escapes while we appease our fickle god named conformity by draping our minds with blue-jeaned thoughts. Confused, we huddle facelessly in sterile conformity. Moryett Malchak