My Lame Day that Changed a Lifetime Perception

History has never been my strongest subject because memorizing dates and events seems very boring to me. Although looking at such timelines can be a little interesting, I can’t grasp all the info being forced into my brain. And so, the rest of my history in history class became one dull 60-minute agony for more or less two years of my life. I didn’t like learning about the holocaust timeline.

However, it was at this one particular afternoon that changed my whole perception of a boring history class. Although it was an uneventful day with loads of paper works and readings to accomplish, our professor perhaps came that day with something interesting enough to tickle and challenge our brain cells. “Is there a chance that history can repeats itself”? He then asked, yet expectant that his class would respond in usual silence. As anticipated, we did give the professor a blank stare but this time a more intent look on my face, our faces (at least I know all of us had the same reaction). It was then I thought to myself maybe history really does repeat itself? I took a look at the russian revolution timeline and saw a pattern, it was eerily similar to that of the french revolution timeline.

Our teacher gave us something to think about. The social issues that we’ve discussed in the former days of our history class up to the latest topics were weaved together for us to come up with our answers. He illustrated his point by referring to past presidents. In 1846 Lincon was elected to congress. Alternatively John F. Kennedy was in Congress in 1946, exactly 100 years after Lincon was elected. These facts do not stop the similarities and likeness of paths these two presidents led. Lincon was elected in 1860 which was close to 100 before John F. When Kennedy took power as the new president it was 1960. Departing on only that fact, those two presidents both were big proponents of Civil rights and were both assassinated during their presidency.

I ask myself if everything that happened was just a coincidence? I’d like to believe so, but our history professor made us think even more, an in-depth analysis and scrutiny of the past events. He then asked the question once again “Do you believe that history repeats itself”? I came with an answer I think will forever be etched in my mind, “History doesn’t repeat itself. There may have some flukes of nature and happenstance in the lives of the two presidents that were parallel with each other, but I strongly believe that it was just a product of human’s ability to over generalize. That big of info really makes one think about how the past still can haunt the present, this repeating of mistakes shows us people’s susceptibility to repeating past mistakes.

I knew at the second that what I said was at least partially correct. I saw my professor’s face lit up and that’s enough for me to know that my wild guess is acceptable and that he might as well believed in my viewpoint. That experience made me more interested in the subject as I am now able to understand that I’m one of those silent beings taking part in the history of the world, the history of our lives and existence.

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