First of all, I'm not. I'm Secondary Education with a concentration in History, but that's merely a technicality.
That being said, I've always had a love for history; from my earliest memory I remember watching documentaries on the History Channel with my grandfather. Throughout my middle school and high school years, I began to learn not only history itself but the significance of history, which only deepened my interest in it. History is the story of us as a people, how can we truly understand where we're going if we don't stop every now and then to see where we've already been? History, if you will, is not only the story of us, but it also serves as a sort of rear-view mirror, which provides not only insightful information and cool stories, but also a reference point for us to see how far we're actually progressing as a society.
Another thing I love about history is that it's so shrouded in mystery, which is ironic because we, as in a human race, have lived through it, but are constantly having to look back saying, "What happened there?" History is never ending; it will always be available for study, it will always be fascinating. There's just such a vast amount of information that lies in history, it's literally endless. You can study everything that has happened from the very beginning of time all the way up to what happened yesterday. It's simply amazing.
Lastly, in our world today, our history is being attacked, erased, and destroyed. Considering the passion I have for history, I feel an obligation to protect it; to preserve it, which is precisely what I intend to do as a history teacher. I intend to teach my students raw history, as it truly happened, not as some political or civilian group would have liked for it to. If we don't learn history as it truly happened, we are doomed to repeat it. And let's be honest here, there are numerous historical events (i.e. the Holocaust, slavery, World Wars, basically the whole 15th century) that are incredible to study but we would rather not repeat them. In short, I love history, I always have. That's why I chose to dedicate my college career to the study of it.
MOLLY GRIFFIN - As a fellow future teacher, I especially loved your inquiry on teaching your students with such passion. It is that passion to tell "cool stories" and view history with such an eye that makes other people (and students) love it too. I especially liked how you gave the image of history as a "review mirror" to take a glimpse into our past as humans. Sometimes we get sucked into all the detail and don't enjoy it. When you look in the past in such a way, you really do get to experience cool stories! Its here that you learn so much. I also liked how you talked about the excitement of mystery. Putting questions out there and never having a 100% reality of the past keeps it interesting!
ReplyDeleteMatthew, the goal of teaching our youth history is awesome! I agree with you, that given today's events, it is so important to preserve history and no rewrite it to what some want it to be. Things happened. It is history. And, I think that our first history "teachers" are our grandparents and parents. It is through them that we learn of what was going on "back when I was your age". I always wished that I had listened more to what mine were saying.
ReplyDeleteYou are a history major Matthew; all secondary ed majors have to double major in another subject.
ReplyDelete