Introduction

My name is Michael Rodenbush and I am currently a junior at Westborough High School. My family consists of my mom, my dad, my brother who is in the sixth grade and a sister that is in the tenth grade. It was last year when I first found out about the class Facing History and Ourselves. During that time I listened to guest speakers who came into my class room as well as fellow classmates that had already taken the course; they shared what the Facing History class was about and why it was definitely worth taking. Everything that I heard about the course was positive and nobody had anything bad to say about it.I heard that it is a class where you learn a lot about yourself and that was very appealing to me. I instantly decided to sign up for it because I knew that it was a popular course and there would be limited spots available.

            I was very lucky that I was able to get into one of the enormous Facing History classes during my junior year. As I am close to completing the course today, I can say that it was definitely the most influential class that I have ever taken in all of my schooling. During the course I watched numerous films that made me think about who I am as a person. Many of these films covered the exact events around the time period of the Holocaust. It was very powerful witnessing the true events that transpired during the world’s history. I knew about most of these events but they never really hit me as being this terrible until I actually was able to see them first-hand.

What Facing History Meant To Me

             Facing History andOurselves was by far the most influential course that I have taken during my entire life. I don’t believe any event in my life has had this much of an impact on me a as person, as Facing History had on me this year. Before taking the course I heard from many people, that Facing History was one of the best courses that the high school had to offer. I heard people talk about how the course will help you to learn about yourself as a human being and also about how the course was an easy way to get a good grade. Honestly the main reason I signed up for the class was because I thought it was going to be an easy A, I really thought it was a bunch of bologna that a high school class could be influential and that it could teach you about yourself. I am definitely on the bandwagon now! Pretty much all of the movies taught me a valuable lesson about myself as a person.

            One particular movie that we saw was The Freedom Writers. This movie was based on the true story of a high school teacher who is hired to teach an integrated freshman and sophomore English class. This group of children has ruined the good reputation that the high school once had because most of these kids will never graduate or be literate. Also, most of these kids belong to gangs and or have lived through a death in their family. There are conflicts between the kids at the start because most of them belong to a different race and a lot of the races are rivals; for example the Latinos hate the Cambodians and the Cambodians hate the blacks. The teacher, Mrs. Gruwell, uses unconventional teaching styles to break through and relate to her students, something that the other teachers never tried. She uses writings such as Anne Frank and Zlata’s Diary to change each of the students and the world that they live in. Every one of the other teachers never believed that these kids had a chance to do anything with their lives except for Mrs. Gruwell who was able to change their lives and steer them to graduation. The movie, The Freedom Writers,taught me a lot about myself. First off it made me think about how many people from different races are always faced with prejudice in everyday life. I think that this sort of topic shown in the movie is extremely common and that people who are not white are always put under different stereotypes. The movie made me realize that even I have been part of this stereotyping and at times I have been someone to judge someone based upon race or culture. This changed me as a person because I know that one person can make a difference when dealing with the lives of others that are less fortunate. Also the teachers that assumed the students had no chance of succeeding just because of their race, made me feel bad that this is a common thing in the world. I know that I will no longer judge other individuals that I do not know, without giving them a chance.

experimenter giving instructions to the teacher

Another movie that really changed me as a person was The Milgram Experiment. This movie was about a study where a shock generator was used by a participant who played the role of “teacher”. Every time an incorrect answer was given by the “student”, the teacher sent a shocked them starting at 30 volts and increasing in 15-volt increments all the way up to 450 volts. The many switches were labeled with terms including "slight shock," "moderate shock", and "danger: severe shock." The final two switches were labeled as "XXX." As the experiment went on the teacher would here the student beg for it to stop and even complain about health problems, but this would only lead to the experimenter instructing the teacher to shock the student again. The teacher often asked if he should stop because he was worried about the health of the student, but the experimenter would always tell him that there was no other choice and that they had to go on. This film really taught me that one should always stand up for what they believe in no matter the situation. I started to question whether or not I would have had the guts to stop the experiment. The film helped me change as a person because I know that I am usually a bystander, but being a bystander doesn’t do the situation any good. Next time a situation occurs where I usually would have been the bystander, I know that I will be the first one into action trying to help out.

shock generator

Mr. Davis

A third film that I think really changed me as a person was the movie 12 Angry Men. This film was about a room of twelve people who tried to determine whether or not a kid was guilty or not for stabbing and killing his father. All of the men voted guilty except for one of them (Mr. Davis), this man would not change his view no matter what anyone else said to him. Mr. Davis eventually, after many stressful hours, ended up changing every one of the votes to not guilty. I believe that I am heavily influenced by other people’s thoughts and words. This movie made me realize that you cannot base your opinions on prejudice and you cannot let your views towards people or other groups effect your actions. This is exactly what the eleven men who voted guilty did; they voted guilty just because the kid looked bad without reviewing any of the facts. This definitely changed me because I think it is stupid to base your actions off of what other people would think about them. This movie changed me because I now feel like I can start standing up for what I believe instead of just following the pack to fit in.

           

              Facing History and Ourselves is by far the best class that Westborough High School has to offer. From the class I got the opportunity to see films and photographs that were actually from the Holocaust, I don’t know any class that offers that kind of experience to its students. Through the class I learn a lot about myself as an individual and I definitely would recommend this class to anyone in the high school.

Works Cited

Mrs. Gruwell. Google Images. Image. 24 May 2012.

Freedom Writers Movie Poster. Google Images. Image. 24 May 2012.

The Milgram Experiment. Google Images. Image. 24 May 2012.

Shock Generator. Google Images. Image. 24 May 2012.

12 Angry Men. Google Images. Image. 24 May 2012.