What Facing History and Ourselves Meant To Me

      When entering this course I knew it was going to be interesting and a great learning experience, but I never thought it was going to change me, my life, and my way of thinking. When first arriving to the classroom I was a typical, seventeen-year-old high school student looking to go more in depth on the Holocaust. I never expected to be crying or feeling sick when watching and learning about what truly happened. When seeing action movies and people shooting each other, I was used to it and never thought much of it. But after seeing these documentaries and movies on true life occurrences, I have become a much more emotional and sensitive person towards violent and hurtful actions. I never thought one course could change me this much, this fast.
      I have benefitted from this course as a student because it has taught me to appreciate everything I am learning. It taught me to absorb all of the information given to me because at some point in my life it may be necessary to use this information, and it may be very helpful in any type of situation. It has also taught me to appreciate the fact that I have the chance to acquire the information I am learning in school, because there are handfuls of kids throughout the world who do not get to live the life I am living, and who do not get the opportunities that I do. This course has made me think much more about my life, about the school I go to, and about all of the things I learn every single day that help me progress more and more so that I can achieve the things I strive for in my future.
      Facing History and Ourselves has also made me think more about the people around me. Not necessarily the people I go to school with and see every day, but the people around the world who are less fortunate than I am. Now I truly feel for the ones struggling in life and the ones who cannot live their lives freely and to the fullest. Someday I hope that those people get a chance to get to a happy point in their lives, and not have to deal with getting beaten, put down, and made out to think that they are below the rest of society because that is completely wrong and needs be put to an end. Maybe one day instead of following the most powerful and negative leader, we as a country and world will stand up for what is right.
      Taking this class has made me much more opinionated, and more passionate about what I believe in. When I see or hear someone saying something wrong and completely uncalled for about a very serious topic or situation, I now stand up for what is right and do not let people joke about something that is so severe. People who have not taken this course have absolutely no idea what the people of the Holocaust or any genocide have gone through, and have no perspective on how horrible and tragic it actually was. I feel very strongly about what I have learned and absorbed in this course, and will not allow any person to make me think or believe otherwise. What I have seen with my own eyes has been the absolute worst things I have seen in my entire life, and I do think that every single student, teacher, or citizen in this country needs to witness and learn about what really happened during those hard times.
      One of the first times when I knew this course was only going to get worse from this point on, was when the class watched the movie "The Pianist". The scene when the Nazi Troopers stormed into a Jewish family’s home and ordered them all to stand, but one member could not due to the fact that he was in a wheelchair, and because he did not "obey" them, they picked his wheelchair up, brought him over to the balcony, and dumped him over until he reached his death at the cement ground. This scene was horrifying to me, and made me realize that this was not even the worst of it. Another scene from a movie that stuck with me was from the movie "The Uprising". Even though there was still violence and people being killed, it was an encouraging movie for me because it showed the Jews creating their own weapons and actually fighting back and killing all of the Nazis that they possibly could. When watching this it made me feel happy for the Jewish people, and made me root for them to succeed and get revenge on the German people. The third movie that stuck with me was "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". The scene that struck me emotionally was when the Nazi Trooper’s son went into the gas chamber with his Jewish friend and his mother and father finally caught onto what was happening to him. This was a bitter-sweet moment for me because the father finally got a taste of his own medicine, and felt the way the Jewish people had for this entire time. On the other hand, I was very sad and upset because the little German boy never deserved this, and neither did his friend. So to know that his life had been spared was very upsetting and got to not only me, but the entire class. All of these documentaries and movies made me think and feel depressed, and not be able to wrap my head around the fact that this actually happened. It is unbelievable to me.
      I am so glad that I took this course. Even though most of the time the movies were hard to watch, and the documentaries were hard to believe and talk about, it was a complete learning experience. This course taught me so much about what happened in the world both in the past, the present, and what could happen in the future. It has helped me become a stronger person and feel more comfortable speaking my mind and standing up for what is right. Hopefully more people can learn this information and be changed the way I was, and make it so no more genocides can happen in the world. Everyone deserves a chance to live their lives, no matter what their race, sex, gender, or religion. All people are equal and should not be put through what the Jewish people had to go through. I truly hope this course affected people the way in affected me. Trust me, it is worth it and anyone would be glad that they did it.