Facing History and Ourselves

Introduction:

Facing History and Ourselves is a course that taught me civic responsibility and tolerance through the use of history, mainly the Holocaust. The class focused on historic events and situations that have shaped the world we live in today. We looked at the injustices experienced by many different types ethnic groups experienced in the past from Blacks, to Jews, Women, and to even Teenagers. At the same time, we evaluated ourselves as a person and had group discussions to share our ideas and opinions on certain situations and events. The first time I had heard about this course, I didn’t know much about it. When meeting with my guidance counselor at the end of sophomore year, I was told about it. My guidance counselor recommended it and told me Mr. Gallagher was very passionate about this course. After taking it, I have found this course extremely inspirational. I was very impressed by the course’s ability to challenge students to think about their past, present, and future. I know personally, it challenged me to evaluate my actions and opinions. Through looking at what has happened in the past, it makes us think about our decisions and what we want to do with ourselves. The class is an opportunity to reinvent yourself through civic responsibility and tolerance.

I’ve lived in Bangladesh until the age of six so I have a different perspective from some students my age.  I always struggled to fit in and wanted to be like everyone else around me. Doing so, I was also diminishing my own culture. However, this course has helped me in define myself as a person and made me look at myself in many different ways. 

How Facing History and Ourselves has benefitted me:

Facing History and Ourselves was an extremely meaningful class to me. Never in my high school career have I ever had a class like this one. A class that I will remember for the rest of my life. A class whose teachings won’t be forgotten after a year; what I learned in this course will stay with me for the rest of myself. From the beginning, the course made me question who I really am and think about the person I want to be. Through learning about the holocaust and retracing the steps Hitler took in order to get to such a mass genocide, I have been able to answer that question. Even though Facing History and Ourselves is the course where I learned how cruel and heartless prejudice, racism, and segregation are, I learned over the course how I can help prevent these acts and in doing so I found who I am. As a person I found my whole life is changed, I will never be a bystander and I will always embrace who I am. This is how Facing History and Ourselves has benefitted me.  

If there’s one thing I benefitted from this course, it’s learning to NEVER be a bystander. During the holocaust, every civilian who claimed they had no idea what was going on, was a bystander. Unfortunately, they are at fault for what had happened, not just Nazi soldiers and government. If one proceeds to be a bystander, which is how prejudice can begin and lead to something as terrible as a mass genocide like the holocaust.  However, you don’t necessarily have to stop the Holocaust in order to not be a bystander; it can be as simple as standing up for your friend or even a stranger. I remember recently, I was waiting in line at a grocery store when a couple came in line behind me. The woman seemed very upset and the man was yelling and cursing at her. I could feel her pain and embarrassment just looking in her eyes. Even though I am just teenager and much younger than this couple, I was compelled to say something. Before taking this course, I would have just minded my business and looked the other way as if what was happening in front of me didn’t matter. I now understand that if I had chosen to just be a bystander, my actions would have the same effect as the man putting down that woman in public. This course has made me evaluate my actions and properly use my moral compass.

Facing History and Ourselves has also made me feel comfortable in my own skin. As a teenager I was insecure about who I was and where I came from. I felt like I stuck out because I didn’t have two parents, I wasn’t white, or that I wasn’t wealthy. I desperately seeked confirmation from everyone around me; I wanted to fit in. When I first moved to the United States at age six, the change in environment didn’t seem such a big deal. As I grew older, I began to notice the two cultures clashing. I felt like I had one foot on one boat and the other leg on another boat. I was trying to please my mom by being the typical Bengali girl who gets good grades and follows a strict and traditional lifestyle. On the other hand, I had to be the everyday American teenager with my friends and peers. However, after this course, I have learned that I just have to embrace myself for who I am. When I witnessed all those Jews proudly associating themselves as Jews, even if that meant death, I knew I had to as well. I have to be the real me with everyone. I shouldn’t have to fake who I am for other people. The Jews could have denied the fact that they are Jews to avoid inhumane torture and pain but they didn’t. They embraced who they are and that is something I benefitted from my overall experience in this course. 

There are so many factors to the class I liked from the movies we watched, the class discussions, and just the general thinking that the class provoked. I like the way the class was executed. We went from simpler stories such as “The Bear That Wasn’t” to such an intense and impactful movie like “The Boy in The Striped Pajamas” and “Freedom Writers”. 

At the very beginning of the course I was excited to see what it had in store for me. We first read a children’s book called “The Bear That Wasn’t”. I immediately analyzed the book and tried to figure out what sort of idea it was trying to prove. The bear was told over and over that he wasn’t a bear until he started to believe it. It’s representative of how society lumps things together by things that they have in common. This discussion was meaningful to me because I have had other people say I’m this or that to the point where I actually began to believe them.

Another part of the course showed us the movie “The Freedom Writers”. I really enjoyed this movie because it was a bit more modern and relatable. The teacher in the movie had just started teaching a class of kids that are condemned by the school just because they are expected to fail due to the history of many classes similar to that one. However, the teacher doesn’t let others stop her from providing these students with a proper education. She manages to get through to each and every student and in the process making a very personal connection to each and every one of them. She shows them the extent of their intelligence and that what they’ve been through has meaning and should be shared with the world. They are stereotyped for their appearance and their performance in school. This movie was meaningful to be because it taught me that everyone has a story to share to the world and that no one should be ignored just because they may appear in a certain stereotypical way.

The most tear jerking movie for me was “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”. It’s about two boys whose lives are complete polar opposites.  The two boys, one the son of a commandant and the other a Jew in a labor camp, come face-to-face at a barbed wire fence that separates and eventually intertwines their lives. The two form such a powerful friendship that Bruno, the commandant’s son, is willing to risk getting caught in order to help the little Jew boy find his father. However, at the end, both the boys, Bruno accidentally, are forced into a chamber and gassed to death. This movie was very meaningful for me because it taught me to treat others how I would want to be treated. Bruno did exactly that. He didn’t care that his friend was a Jew and he was supposed to hate him. He treated the Jewish boy just like a friend, and that is what they became at the end.

Overall, Facing History and Ourselves has been by far one of the best experiences I have ever had in my High School career. This class has been an amazing experience and I am extremely glad I was able to take it. This class has helped me define who I am. It has also shown me many aspects of life and what I should improve of myself. I recommend this class to anyone I know.

Works Cited

“Adolf Hitler”. Google Images. Online Image. 22 May 2013

“Freedom Writers”. Wikipedia. Online Image. 22 May 2013

“The Bear That Wasn’t”. Google Images. Online Image. 22 May 2013

“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”. Wikipedia. Online Image. 22 May 2013

“The Holocaust”. Google Images. Online. 22 May 2013