Nick Judd's Blog: 2011

My name is Nick Judd and I am a senior at Westborough High School. Over the first semester I took a course called Facing History and Ourselves. I decided to take this course because I was familiar with the teacher, Mr. Gallagher, and also I thought learning more about the Holocaust and its affect on society would be somewhat interesting. I was correct in my assumption. This class is not based on tests and quizzes, but blog posts by students discussing the films we watch and articles we read during class. At the beginning of the year we started off doing many readings, most of which weren’t focused on the Holocaust as much as they were focused on being a good human being and important dilemmas and principles people may encounter throughout their life. As the semester proceeded we began watching more films that were about the Jews and Nazis during the time period of the Holocaust. I found these to be much more interesting than the readings, as seeing and hearing real life experiences from people who were actually there and experienced the atrocities that took place during that period of time made much more of an impact on me than just text from the various articles we read. Through these films and readings we learned a great deal about how to treat others and how people should stand by their own beliefs rather than follow the crowd. This course is not your typical educational class by any means. It teaches you how to be a good and responsible human being, more than it teaches you to be a good student.

What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me

When signing up for the class, Facing History and Ourselves, in the spring of last year, I had no idea of the impact that it would have on my view of the world, history, and life in general. It seemed like and interesting class, had heard that you watch a lot of movies, and had been in Mr. Gallagher’s class as a sophomore, so I thought it would be a good elective to take as a senior. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I could’ve made, as not only did I find this course to be extremely educational and eye opening, I found it to be extremely interesting. It is not based on tests and quizzes, or factual information, it is focused on beliefs, opinions, and how to become a better human being and being a positive part of society. The course proved to benefit me educationally, intellectually, and as a human being. There were many lessons, such as being tolerant to everybody, that I couldn’t have experienced in any other class offered to me at Westborough High School.

Throughout the first semester, the various films, as well as the various class discussions and readings we were assigned had a fairly significant impact on my personal thoughts and beliefs. This class benefited me more as a person than it did as a student. One way it did benefit me as a student though, was the packet we were given about trying to relax. It taught me to relax, not worry about the stressful and unimportant things in life, and just focus on what is important. We were also taught how to set goals that were reasonably within our reach. One way the class affected me as a person was through the various films we viewed. I believe the films were the most beneficial forms of learning for this class. It is a lot different to see and hear the films than it is to just read text. Personally, the films affected me more because I became more emotionally invested in the characters and people. A few of the movies, especially “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” were very impactful. Throughout the movie, I felt like I was starting to get to know the young boy and sympathize with him. When he died on the end I was very upset with the father, and how he could even let his child be put into a situation like this. While most of the films we watched impacted me as a person, the last movie we watched, the one with the actual footage made by US soldiers at the concentration camps when they were freed, was by far the most disturbing. Just seeing thousands and thousands of actual dead bodies of innocent people stacked on top of each other like animals was shocking. The footage of the people who were alive was just as shocking. They were so skinny because of the Nazis starving them and bruised and battered from beatings, that I couldn’t imagine anyone treating another human being like this, no matter how much they disliked them. I knew that the Nazis were terrible and treated the Jews and other prisoners poorly, but I had no idea how they tortured them and just how badly they treated them. These movies reinforced the principles we learned throughout the beginning of the course. They showed that people should follow their own beliefs and not listen to what the crowd thinks, because if everybody acts and thinks the same way, society can have huge problems, and catastrophes, such as the Holocaust can occur.

While the films and movies we viewed were very impactful and significantly effected me as a person, I believe the readings and class discussions we participated in laid the foundation for us to understand exactly what was happening in the movies and what the problems were. For example, the reading about the bear was particularly impactful. The bear went to each level of management and they all told him that he wasn’t a bear, he was actually a hairy man. Eventually when enough people told him this he began to believe them, and lost his identity. This can be applied to society. You can’t let people tell you who you are, you have to stay true to yourself. If you let someone else form your identity, they control you and you are forced to be someone that you aren’t. Other readings also significantly affected me and taught some invaluable lessons. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising packet was particularly impactful. While there was no direct relation to certain principles and values, it taught me to stand up to a person who is hurting you and never let anyone take advantage of you and force you to do something you don’t want to. These types of lessons aren’t taught in any other class and are invaluable to learn and will significantly help me throughout the rest of my life.

Facing History and Ourselves didn’t really teach me anything I wasn’t aware of or didn’t know about. What it did do though was reinforce and emphasize important principles and beliefs that can be used to become a better person. An few examples of these vital lessons and principles include, staying true to your own beliefs, treating everybody with respect no matter who they are or what they look like, and not letting other people change you and control your identity. This course taught me how to treat others with respect and be open to new ideas and beliefs. It also taught me that I should stick to what I believe in, and if anyone disagrees or doesn’t like it, to ignore them because that is what I believe and you can’t be right or wrong when it comes to personal principles. The connection this course made with the Holocaust and the factors that caused it, really enforced the principles and characteristics people must have in order to become a better human being and member of society.

Nick Judd's Blog

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Introduction

What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me

Works Cited