Social Studies Moments

My most memorable Social Studies moment and my most memorable Social Studies instructor are from the same source: my grade 12 History class, which was taught by one of the very best teachers I was blessed to have during my formal education years, a master teacher named Mr. Rajotte.
One of the major assignments in my History 12 class was an in-depth research paper, which explored a major event, issue, or concept of the twentieth century. This was one of our final assignments, and was meant to act as a summary of the yearlong course, highlighting our comprehension, and allowing us to further explore a component of the curriculum that particularly sparked our interest.
After learning about the major events of the twentieth century for the past ten months, most of my fellow students had developed somewhat of a negative perception of this era; multiple wars, the holocaust, and the number of various other atrocities and issues that we had learned of, left many people feeling bleak about he situation of humanity, and my fellow classmates' research paper topics definitely reflected this dismal inference of reality.
By nature I am a pretty happy-go-lucky type of person. Difficult past experiences have been made easier because of this quality that I feel fortunate to possess, and because of this, I usually deal with, and interpret situations in a positive light-although I am a realist, my reality tends to bright. It seemed natural, therefore, that I would choose to focus on the positive aspects of the twentieth century, rather than concentrate on any of the negative happenings.
My teacher, Mr. Rajotte, played an integral role in the development of our papers, by requiring us to submit our essay topics and thesis statements weeks in advance; after receiving my initial ideas for the assignment, he later joked in class that my topic was quite ironic, illustrating the positive aspects of the twentieth century, and how not one of his students in over twenty years of teaching had ever chosen to to take this approach. I felt that Mr. Rajotte was giving me somewhat of a challenge by this public statement. He was the type of teacher who seemed so wise, like he had seen and experienced so much in life, that nothing surprised him. His expectations of his classes were high (or, at least they felt that way in high school), and I really wanted to "wow" him.
When I think back to academic successes from my secondary years, I always remember my History 12 paper. I spent hours researching, learning how to be a student, and at the end of it all, I had created a piece of work that I was so proud to have authored. The title of my paper was, "The Silver Lining: The Brighter Side of the Twentieth Century," which highlighted such positive contributions as the the major developments in social welfare, international aid, and medical innovations. I wrote it with a newly discovered passion and excitement for History, which my teacher had instilled within me over the year; his own feeling for the subject were contagious-you could not help but be completely engaged in his lectures and teachings, and he alone had been responsible for countless numbers of students being turned on to the subject of History.
Mr. Rajotte had a great "stage presence," like a storyteller, he would make each task and concept seem so interesting. Therefore, when he returned our papers at the end of the year, he not surprisingly had the entire class on the edges of their seats, stopping randomly to make little comments about certain papers that had really stood out. When he handed my paper back to me, he let out a little chuckle, joking to the class, "oh, and here's Ms. Chatwin's paper" reciting the title of my essay, "she just can't help but make everything so cheery," we all laughed out loud when he continued with a sideways wink in my direction, "doesn't it just make you wanna puke?!"
I got an A+ on the paper-but more importantly I felt that by writing it, I had gained an even deeper understanding my self, and my teacher's simple comment gave me a brief, but incredibly memorable opportunity to see myself in other people's eyes- I remember feeling a modest sense of pride for liking the person I saw.