Introduction
Facing History and ourselves is a course offered at Westborough High school to juniors and seniors as an elective. It is a half year class where you learn about history but more importantly who you are. During the semester we have learned about many different topics one of them being “us and them” during this topic we talked about Social Darwinism and other theories about what people think about race. We also learned about the Jim Crow laws in the US, WWI, the Weimar Republic and National Identity. But the major topic in this course is WWII, the Nazi’s and the holocaust. We watched many movies and documentaries about them along with blogging what we thought. Along with the blog we also would have group discussions and class discussions. Each of these topics made you think of whom you are as a person and see how horrible the holocaust truly was. This class allows you to think about who you are and face what happened in the past. The reason I choose to take this class was for a few reasons. My first reason was that I heard the class really good and was taught by someone who was passionate about what he was teaching. My second reason for taking this class was because I enjoy history and thought it would be interesting. My name is Gillian Robertson and I am junior at Westborough high school. I am on the cross country team and do both indoor and outdoor track. Facing History and ourselves is the most eye opening class I have taken.
What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me
I believe that this class benefited me as both a person and a student in many different ways. The different lessons we learned will stay with me as I grow up. Being able to see movies and watch different documentaries allowed me to see the horrors during World War II but more importantly it allowed me to understand myself.
Being able to learn about the concept of being a bystander at the beginning of the course, I think made a difference during the class. As someone who is quite, before taking this class probably wouldn’t stand up to someone; I would think about saying something but wouldn’t actually. But after watching and learning about what happened to the Jews I realized I don’t want to be a bystander anymore but someone who can stand up for others and myself. I would rather stand up for what I think is right then let someone think they can do whatever they want. Something that this class also showed me is what I would do if I ever have to live through something like this. When the class first started I would always wonder what I would do if I was someone in Europe during the holocaust. But now that the class is over I know now I would help those in trouble and stand up for what is right. I say this 100% sure of myself, after seeing the Death camps I know I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do something to help those innocent people. I would say watching the Death Camps and seeing the pictures made what happened so many years ago feel real to me and had the biggest impacted on me. They disturbed me and made me sad that no one stood up to the Nazis. I also was able to really see all the death and horror a group of people went through for no reason other than they were Jewish. I hope that if people today saw the pictures and the death camp videos they would feel that this was truly something horrible and should never be repeated.
The movie that we watched that had the biggest effect on me during the class was The Pianist. When we didn’t finish the whole movie in class I knew I had to finish it at home. Watching what happened made me so happy that he survived and I actually cried at the ending. I feel like this movie showed me that even with all the horrible things that happen there were some happy endings. This movie ending reminded me that even with the worst tragedies amazing things still came about and I believe this is true in everyday life as well. Another documentary we watched that had an effect on me was the one where people were told to shock people. I think that this documentary had an effect on me because it shows how people are willing to do things, even if they are wrong, just because they are told to. This documentary to me showed me how the Nazis were able to get away with what they did. Another movie that had a major effect on the way I think was Freedom Writers. This movie was one that I looked forward to watch each day. I liked how it showed how one person could change a group of people in such a positive way. 
I think everything we did during this course benefited me not only as a person but also as a student. I was able to learn about more about the Holocaust and the Nazis in a few months then I have in all the years I’ve been in school. I also got to learn things I feel like aren’t taught in a textbook about what happened in the death camps and in the Ghettos. Learning about Germany and Hitler allowed me to understand the Holocaust more clearly. I felt like every lesson we learned had a purpose to teach me something new, the different packets we got allowed me to read up on more topics and gain more knowledge on the topic. I think that this class benefited my knowledge on World War II better than any other history class could. 
The thing that benefited me the most about this class was being able to talk to people outside the class and tell them what we were watching or talking about. So many of my family’s dinner discussions were about what we were watching in facing history. I would like to hear what my mom and dad would think and what they were taught about the holocaust during school. My mom told she never learned about the prospective of other nations just what the Americans did. My dad told me what he thought of what happened. I was interested in what they both said. I would have loved for my grandpa to be alive to hear his thoughts of the war, because he was around my age when it was going on. I feel like this class allowed me to have a new relationship with my parents, one that allows me to talk about serious issues. I also think what benefited me was being able to talk about the movies after we watched them and being able to blog about what we saw. I think both of these allowed us to think about what we watched and understand what happened.
I am extremely grateful that I was able to take this class this year. I never thought a class could have such an effect on me. Facing History and ourselves allowed me to understand who I am as a person. Seeing the horrible things that happened during the Holocaust made me think about what I would do in certain situations and of the people who had to live through it. I believe this class should be taught for everyone in every school. This class benefited me in ways that will last me throughout my life. I am truly sad that this class is only one semester and not a full year.
Works Cited
Concentration Camps. Digital image. History. Web. 14 Jan. 2013. http://www.history.com/photos/holocaust- concentration-camps/photo10.
Concentration Camps. Digital image. History. Web. 14 Jan. 2013. http://www.history.com/photos/holocaust- concentration-camps/photo10.
Freedom Writers. Digital image. IMDB . Web. 14 Jan. 2013.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463998/>.
Holocaust. Digital image. World Press. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.http://ivarfjeld.wordpress.com/category
/holocaust/.
The Pianist. Digital image. Wikipedia. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.http://en.wikipedia.org
The Pianist. Digital image. Wikipedia. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/The_Pianist_%282002_film%29>.
Warsaw Ghetto. Digital image. Zwoje.. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.http://www.zwoje-scrolls.com/shoah/wghetto.html.
