Facing History and Ourselves is a great course Westborough high school has to offer. I have learned so much from taking this course and by taking this course, it makes me appreciate life a lot more than I would have before. I now know how I react to certain things such as the Holocaust or Hitler taking over Germany.
I am a junior at Westborough high school. I have lived in Westborough most of my life and I am well educated here. I go to school every day and I enjoyed taking the course Facing history and ourselves. I learn a lot in school and I find most things interesting. High school is going well for me as well and I like it a lot.
The reason I took this course was because I got an interest in history and I love learning about things that happened in the past. I was not sure what to expect out of this course and I was not sure what we were specifically going to learn. I wanted to learn a lot about history which I think is one of the reasons why I really wanted to take this course. Once I sat down in the class, I knew that this was more than just a history course. This is a class that helps you learn who you are as a person and how you react to different things. By the end of this course, you should be able to stick up for yourself and not be a bystander which is why I think this is a great course Westborough high school has to offer.
Friday, January 13, 2012
What Facing History Meant to Me
The course, Facing history and ourselves, benefited me as a student and as a person in many different ways. The readings, class discussions, and films hit me like a train and whenever we finish a movie in this class, I am speechless and shocked. I honestly have no words to describe what I see in this class because most of these things I am seeing for the first time. I always get mixed feelings such as happy, sad, mad or depressed when I watch these films in this class and I think many students would agree.
By taking this class, I feel as though I see things from a different point of view and I look at things in a way I never would have before. This has changed me as a person. I appreciate life more and I realize how easy it is for me, than it was for people back in the camps during the Holocaust. I respect myself and the people around me a lot more than I think I would have if I had not taken this course. People may not know much about events that happened in the past such as the Holocaust or Hitler becoming leader of Germany, but after taking this course, I learned a lot more and it changed my point of view.
I have changed as a student a lot as well from taking this Facing History course. I have learned a lot and don’t look at things the same as I did before. The event that I think affected me the most is the Holocaust and what they did to the Jews at the camps. As a student, I have never learned as much about the Holocaust in facing history, than I did in any other class. However, I do not look at this class as a class for learning; I look at it more as a class to see who I really am and how I react to certain events that occurred in the past. Most of the time, I do not know how to react and I do not know what I think. After we watched the movie, "The boy in the striped pajama’s", I did not know how to react to what I saw. I was sad for the two boys and the family and I couldn’t get it out of my head all day.
There are many readings, class discussions, films and specific lessons that I hit me hard and I don’t look at things the same. For example, we had a class discussion about what happened to the coach at Penn. State College. What the coach was doing was not something you hear of everyday so it was really shocking to hear about something like that. My reaction is that people need to be careful of the people around them and everyone should watch out for each other. It is good for people to watch out for each other cause everyone will be safe and the chances of people getting hurt drop dramatically. As for many other people, they need to make the right decisions in life. By doing something stupid, like what the coach from Penn. State did, it can mess your life up and many people don’t realize that. Many people find that out the hard way, and often times it is already to late.
Another thing I learned about in this course that affected me is when I watched the movie "The boy in the stripped pajama’s". This movie gives the viewer a true feeling of what the Holocaust was really like and how the Jews felt. I know the torture they are suffering and I know its bad, but I will never be able to feel what they went through. I can see it with my own eyes, but the smell isn’t there and that often makes the experience totally different. I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for them and it is overwhelming to think about. After seeing all the skinny bodies, I came to a conclusion that they defiantly starved and eventually died of starvation. The look on their face was a face expression of torture and it is heart breaking to see it mainly because it is something you don’t see every day. It is almost as if you want to help the Jews because you know that what is being done to them is not good, but you can’t help them because what’s done is done.
The third thing that I found interesting about this course but affected me a lot was when I saw the real life pictures of the holocaust. This was pretty disturbing in a way because it was not something you see a lot and you can tell that the Jews were being tortured in the camps. It’s hard to process in my mind that something like this actually happened. As I look at one of the pictures, I see a grandmother walking with her grandchildren towards death. They are heading towards the gas chambers to be killed, but they think they are going to get a drink of water. This makes me appreciate how lucky I am as a person and as a student to be able to go to school and get an education and not have to deal with what millions of unfortunate Jews had to deal with. Many people were killed for no reason and just by trying to process that in my mind makes me sick to my stomach. It is a good thing nothing like that happens now but you never know if something will or not.
In the end, I have learned a lot from taking this course. I do not look at things the same and I value myself as a person a lot more. I value other people as well and I realize how lucky I am to be alive at this time. I am glad I took this course because it has changed me for the better. I recommend that every student in the high school takes this course because it will change who you are for the better. People may not believe it in the beginning, but as you look into the films and discussions this class has, the student will begin to see.
By taking this class, I feel as though I see things from a different point of view and I look at things in a way I never would have before. This has changed me as a person. I appreciate life more and I realize how easy it is for me, than it was for people back in the camps during the Holocaust. I respect myself and the people around me a lot more than I think I would have if I had not taken this course. People may not know much about events that happened in the past such as the Holocaust or Hitler becoming leader of Germany, but after taking this course, I learned a lot more and it changed my point of view.
I have changed as a student a lot as well from taking this Facing History course. I have learned a lot and don’t look at things the same as I did before. The event that I think affected me the most is the Holocaust and what they did to the Jews at the camps. As a student, I have never learned as much about the Holocaust in facing history, than I did in any other class. However, I do not look at this class as a class for learning; I look at it more as a class to see who I really am and how I react to certain events that occurred in the past. Most of the time, I do not know how to react and I do not know what I think. After we watched the movie, "The boy in the striped pajama’s", I did not know how to react to what I saw. I was sad for the two boys and the family and I couldn’t get it out of my head all day.
There are many readings, class discussions, films and specific lessons that I hit me hard and I don’t look at things the same. For example, we had a class discussion about what happened to the coach at Penn. State College. What the coach was doing was not something you hear of everyday so it was really shocking to hear about something like that. My reaction is that people need to be careful of the people around them and everyone should watch out for each other. It is good for people to watch out for each other cause everyone will be safe and the chances of people getting hurt drop dramatically. As for many other people, they need to make the right decisions in life. By doing something stupid, like what the coach from Penn. State did, it can mess your life up and many people don’t realize that. Many people find that out the hard way, and often times it is already to late.
Another thing I learned about in this course that affected me is when I watched the movie "The boy in the stripped pajama’s". This movie gives the viewer a true feeling of what the Holocaust was really like and how the Jews felt. I know the torture they are suffering and I know its bad, but I will never be able to feel what they went through. I can see it with my own eyes, but the smell isn’t there and that often makes the experience totally different. I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for them and it is overwhelming to think about. After seeing all the skinny bodies, I came to a conclusion that they defiantly starved and eventually died of starvation. The look on their face was a face expression of torture and it is heart breaking to see it mainly because it is something you don’t see every day. It is almost as if you want to help the Jews because you know that what is being done to them is not good, but you can’t help them because what’s done is done.
The third thing that I found interesting about this course but affected me a lot was when I saw the real life pictures of the holocaust. This was pretty disturbing in a way because it was not something you see a lot and you can tell that the Jews were being tortured in the camps. It’s hard to process in my mind that something like this actually happened. As I look at one of the pictures, I see a grandmother walking with her grandchildren towards death. They are heading towards the gas chambers to be killed, but they think they are going to get a drink of water. This makes me appreciate how lucky I am as a person and as a student to be able to go to school and get an education and not have to deal with what millions of unfortunate Jews had to deal with. Many people were killed for no reason and just by trying to process that in my mind makes me sick to my stomach. It is a good thing nothing like that happens now but you never know if something will or not.
In the end, I have learned a lot from taking this course. I do not look at things the same and I value myself as a person a lot more. I value other people as well and I realize how lucky I am to be alive at this time. I am glad I took this course because it has changed me for the better. I recommend that every student in the high school takes this course because it will change who you are for the better. People may not believe it in the beginning, but as you look into the films and discussions this class has, the student will begin to see.
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