I took Facing History and Ourselves because at the end of my sophomore year Mr. Gallagher asked me to take the class. I heard the class was just watching movies, and that it would be really easy which is exactly the way I wanted to end my senior year. Little did I know that the class would be much more than a blow off class. Facing History and Ourselves was not the most influential history class I ever took, but one of the most important classes that I took all of high school. The movies and discussions that took place during class made me look at the world with a completely different view. I learned not just what happened, but why it happened, and through the movies I was able to put myself in the shoes of someone living at the time. I also learned a lot about life, and how being a bystander is just as bad as causing the problem because if nobody acts, a situation is just going to get worse.

Facing History had a huge impact on a group of people that no other class in the high school can offer. The class was able to grab 25 students attention, without the personal attention from a teacher. In any other class, to actually make an impact on that many students would take three or four teachers. I can speak for everyone when I say the moves that were shown in the class had a profound effect on students. The semester before I took Facing History and Ourselves I was in a business class and a girl that was taking Facing History at the time came into our class sobbing. The teacher of my class went over to see what was wrong. She said she had just seen a movie about the Nazi Death Camps in Facing History and she couldn't believe how any human being could treat another human so badly. Even one of my good friends who is a big, tough football player said that the movie was tough to watch, but it really opened his eyes to how bad the Jewish people were treated. After seeing their reactions I needed to see the footage for myself, and now that I have, I believe that everyone that goes through Westborough High School should see it.

The story I told above was not meant in any way to discourage what is shown in the course. The movies had such an effect over people because they were actual footage. Living in Westborough, I feel like many of the students here, including myself are protected by "The Bubble." We have no idea what really happens outside of Westborough. This class gives us at least a taste of what the outside world is really like.

What I liked the most about Facing History and Ourselves was the way it allowed me to connect to history like never before. It has always been difficult for me to connect to history and put myself in a person's shoes living at the time because I have never experienced anything like it before. For example, almost everyone now says they would never join Hitler and the Nazis, but after listening to Hitler speak, I can honestly say I am not sure what I would do. Obviously, what Hitler did was extremely wrong, but the man was a great leader. He is the best speaker I have ever heard and his confidence was extraordinary. Not only was Hitler an amazing leader, but I also learned of the German struggles and how they really had no choice but to join Hitler, unless they wanted their lives to continue to be miserable. With the actual footage I was able to put myself in a persons shoes living at the time and make good practical judgments for the first time in my life.

The video that stuck out to me the most was the video about bullying. We watched about a five minute clip about a man whose son committed suicide because he was being bullied. Th video was extremely sad, but it made me realize the dangers of bullying. I have never been bullied before to the point where I would think of committing suicide, so I never thought of it as a huge problem. After seeing the video, I learned that being a bystander is just as bad as actually bullying. The clip did a great job of showing the father's pain even after years have gone by since his son's death. I also found it interesting how Mr. Gallagher was able to take this video, which was made in my lifetime about one boy, and connect it to the Holocaust. Mr. Gallagher compared it to the Nazi's in Germany and how they bullied the Jews and everyone else they did not like, while bystanders did nothing. This act of bullying resulted in more than eleven million people dead. After taking this class I have realized how big of a deal bullying is, whether it is to one person or a big group of people.

Another video that stuck out to me was a video about an old woman who gets interviewed thirty years after Nazi Germany. During Nazi Germany this woman had accused her neighbor of not being a good German and actually wrote a letter to someone high in Nazi command to get her neighbor punished. If I remember correctly there was a severe punishment if a negative letter was written about you and the punishment could even result in death. I do not remember what was exactly said but I remember thinking why would someone ever do this to another person, it seemed so stupid. When the old woman was asked about the letter, she denied that she ever wrote it and said that someone must be making it up. This really angered me because there was no way that someone could have made up a letter like that, and also it angered me that the woman would not admit she had made a mistake.

Facing History and Ourselves needs to stay in the high school. I believe that Facing History needs to be offered to as many students as possible. Not only is it a fun class, but it has a more powerful effect on students than any other class I have taken. The class really gives students a new outlook on the world and is helpful in preparing students for life outside of Westborough.

Facing History