A Glimpse Into the Past: The Ubique Archives

BY WILLIAM FARRUGIA

I was fortunate enough this week to take a look back on the journey and history of Ubique since its creation by then principal, Mr Brookes in 1946. It was truly a fascinating surprise to see the wonders of the past represented and shown in our school magazine, and the changing of the times shown in the pictures and drawings throughout the years, today I shall bring you on a journey throughout the school’s history and culture.

I began my journey by looking at the oldest documents that I could reasonably find as they are stored in the archives in the library, the first Ubique article that caught my attention was one from 1950 which had a page in it detailing 40 questions to see if you are a good student or not, it was rather interesting to read and analyze it because almost all questions are still relevant today and ask basic questions which cut rather deep still in our modern age. It was also a reminder that being a smart and academic student doesn’t make a good student on its own and that putting in the effort, having a good sense of humour and being friendly does.

I was fortunate enough to come across photos of one of the school's walkathons held in the early 1970s. What is so interesting to me about this is that we see from these images how quickly things change. The 70’s were a crazy time for culture and fashion especially, and it can definitely be seen in the photos of the students here, with students wearing tight tucked-in jeans with sweaters and leather jackets, not to mention the fringes and bowl cuts most students had in this time.

I was also fortunate enough to look at some of the Post Ubique covers with many stunning abstract or comedic drawings and pictures from the 90’s. One of them that caught my eye was this one here of the two monkeys in the front cover, I would say that this was the most detailed one as it would have taken quite a long time to draw this cover with pencil. It also captures in part the time of the 90’s and the crazy time it was for Ubique as it moved into a second stage of its life, becoming a more vivacious and creative newspaper.

I was also able to take a look at some recent Ubique articles made in just the past few years. The piece below was an outstanding drawing in one of Ubique articles that was just beautiful. Although maybe not the most relevant to the school, it was truly a gorgeous and beautiful drawing. 

Going through Ubiques history was a grand and wonderful experience because not only do we get to see how our writing has changed over the decades and has evolved, but we see in extension the history of the school represented in Ubique because well both are one in the same, Ubique is our school and cannot exist without it. The history of Ubique has truly been long, starting in 1946 it has been a part of our school for 77 years being passed down to new students, and hopefully it shall continue to live long into the future leaving with it a joyful and great history of our school.