Christine Tsang

5/12/08
Block Iota

The Importance of History in my Life

History is an important factor towards learning about our society

and being aware of what had happened and what is happening.

History has always been thought of as a guide towards correcting one's

mistake, but this isn't true as the same mistakes continue to be made.

It is important because what we don't know history can retell. Think of

it as passing down knowledge to those that are unaware of the past.

As for me, everything that I do and everything that I am is considered

as history once time passes.

My place in society counts as being a part of history and it plays

a part in shaping history. I identify myself as a young Asian American

woman who wants and is willing to be educated. I am willing to

educate myself even if history is not my strongest subject. I want to

learn about important events that happened in the past and how that

affects our world today. I want to know why things are the way they

are and their purposes. In our society, we have a timeline of events

and this timeline of events retell a story even if I have never personally

experienced it. Parts of my goal are fulfilled because these past four

years I have learned to become an educated person about history.

Over these past four years of learning in World History,

Humanities and Government/Economics, I feel that I gained more

knowledge on the past of the world. From every History/Social Science

class that I took, there has always been a thing or two that struck me

as a learner. In World History, I remember learning about the

Tiananmen Square Protest in China, where it led to a massacre of

thousands of Chinese civilians. What stood out to the most was the

one protestor stood with bravery in front of a tank.

In my junior year, Humanities class was where I first experienced

writing a research paper. I wrote my Civil War Paper on African-

American art and the hardships African-Americans had to go through in

order to freely express themselves. What stood out to me was the

Harlem Renaissance that happened in the 1900s. Since I like art, I

thought learning about the background of art from a different culture

would be interesting. The African Americans used art, not only drawn

art but also performance and written art, as a way to express

themselves and show their hardships, since their freedom was limited

due to slavery. In Government/Economics, I learned the importance of

writing a successful research paper. I chose to write my topic on the

idea that humans are naturally good. This was a controversial topic

because every philosopher that believed in natural goodness had an

opposing philosopher. What made my research successful was being

able to find the right quotes to prove my point. From researching I

learned a lot more about history. I learned about George Washington’s

Farewell Address in 1796 and how he served to help the people of the
United States after he left his position.

In addition to historical researches on the past, I have researched

about my possible future life. Completing the personal finance project

made me realize how my life would be like in the real world after high

school. I am aware of the choices I have to make and that not

everything may go the way I planned because I don’t have full control

on my future. I think that my values have been influenced by my

studies because researching what my life would be like in the future

makes me think more thoroughly on what I really want in life. This all

takes part in setting my goals and priorities. In this society I can

foresee that I would have to be hard working in order to get where I

need to be. Also be dedicated in what I do, so I can enjoy what I do.

As an individual, I feel that the more I know about past history,

the more secure and confident I would feel as a person because

knowledge provides a kind of mental power. With the knowledge of

history I am able to pass the information to others, so history won’t go

missing as some stories are worth telling. My studies of history and

social science influence my views of the world and my role because my

studies led me to become more educated about a specific point in

time. Based on what I have learned, I predict that I would gain more

knowledge in additional to what I already know. As an Asian-American

woman I feel the need to know more about the past and learn more

about my culture as a part of educating myself on history. As a learner

I want to be able to learn more from history not just from an

assignment, but also out of curiosity. This will help me in my studies in

the future for projects and researches, where I am able to connect to

what I already know and inform others of what they don't know. This

can happen through various things that I can do to educate others so

they are more aware of what happened in the past or what is currently

happening in the world.