What Facing History Meant To Me

Before I start talking about how facing history changed me as a person as well as a student, I just want to thank the people responsible for bringing this course into the Westborough High school curriculum course.

From the time that I stepped foot in the facing history and ourselves class room, I knew that this was not going to be like any other class that I had taken in all four years of my high school career. The aspect of no homework, no quizzes or test and even projects lured many. I believe that this aspect of the course gives students a chance to really learn the hard facts of different events through out history. All the stories that we read and all the movies and pictures that we saw changed me as a person in more ways than one. One of the first stories that really opened up my eyes was “The Bear that wasn't”. This story talked about a confused bear that didn't know who he really was and being told by so many people ranging from the president of a company to even a circus director that he wasn't a bear, and he truly began to believe it. In the end, the bear figured out who he was even though many people said he wasn't a bear. This story changed me because it very so much reflects today’s society. I learned that through out the course of my life, I will encounter people who tell me that I am not what I truly am its up to me at the end of the day to let them know that I know who I am and I don't need them to define who I am. Its one thing to teach a lesson and get the facts but what Mr. Gallagher taught his class with so much class,compassion,and determination which made the students including my self to pay more attention and the best part is that at the end of class, many students were talking about the class after class and that something that I haven't seen in most teacher's classes.

One of the most personal topics that we covered in this class was racism. We watched a movie called “A class Divided” which displayed an experiment carried out by an elementary teacher by the name of Mrs. Elliot. She displayed the unfair treatment that many black folks go through as well as many different races. She showed her class how ridiculous it looks when you don't treat other people equally just because they have blue eyes or long hair. Another movie that touched me was “Freedom Writer”.  Even though I had seen this movie before, for some particular reason, this time when I watched it, it made more sense. I had a better understanding of what many kids in America are going through on a daily basis from racism, to gang violence and on top of that, they students have to come to school and “learn”. The teacher in the movie is truly one of a kind. She was able to chow the students that she really cared for them and even sacrificed her own marriage, money and time. When the students saw this, they realized that there are people out there that truly care about them and that its up to them to change the world. This really touched me because its truly. It showed me that even though the teachers or those that are supposed to be in power don't care about you, its up to you to prove them wrong and make something of yourself. This is no better shown than in the movie “The Children March”. The movie shows countless numbers of black children skipping school and even willing to go to jail in order to fight what they believed in. Its funny to me how the children were doing what the adults should have been doing but I guess its this very unique mentally of kids wanting a better place for their kids that they are willing to do everything to make sure that their kids will not go through the same thing that they had. As a black child in Westborough, I am very appreciative of the works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and all the freedom fighters that dared to dreamed of a better America for not only black people but for anyone who lived in the United States. For its for people like them that I am able to sit with all different races in class and get the same education as them. Its people like them that made people like President Obama inspire billions of people around the world. And its for people like them that dared us to dream.

The topic that really opened up my eyes and rearranged some of the speculations that I had was the holocaust. Mr. Gallagher stressed that in order for the holocaust to have happened, their had to be bystanders to let it happen. Its one thing to talk about the holocaust and its another thing to actually see in video and pictures the after math of what Hitler did to millions of people. When I saw the pictures of the death camps and the victims, I asked myself what would make one human being treat another human being as if he was just an animal. This topic corrected some of my thoughts because all this time I had thought that the Jews didn't even fight ignoring the fact that human nature to fight back. In the movies “The uprising” and the “Grey Zone” displayed the efforts of many Jews fighting back against unjust laws and treatment from the Nazi party. They had the guts to truly fight for their rights and were willing to shoot anybody who stood between them and justice.

Now as I get ready to leave high school, I have a better understanding of history as well as myself because this course truly opened up my eyes and let me things that otherwise I would have overlooked. Thank you Mr. Gallagher for showing us who we truly are and challenging us not with test and quizzes, but with our minds because its not until we open our minds that we will be appreciative of what we as people can achieve and that’s a better world for everybody regardless or race, religion,or sex. Thank you.