Introduction

                I’m a senior at Westborough High School.  Every year we are able to choose a few different elective classes but I wasn’t sure what to pick for my last year of high school.  After reviewing all my choices I decided I was interested in taking a history class.  I always enjoyed learning about the past so I chose the course Facing History and Ourselves.  All I knew about the class was that we were going to watch many different films.  I wasn’t sure what to expect because I didn’t know what events we were going to review.  Once the class began I quickly realized that what we were being taught was important historical events that everyone should learn before graduation.  We started the course by learning about identity, what it meant, what ours was, and how to determine someone else’s.  We learned that the most important thing to us is our identity; it’s what makes us who we are.  We were then taught about segrigation and racism in America.  Mr. Gallagher then showed us real footage.  We also discussed the Armenian genocide.  After that Mr. Gallagher showed us movies about the holocaust.  We talked about true historical events and watched movies about how life was in concentration camps.  This course wasn’t the same as any other class I have taken because we went deeper into how the holocaust began.  It showed us how horribly humans were treated.  I think it’s so important for everyone to learn about the past so this history will never repeat itself.