My essay

“Let us not forget, after all, that there is always a moment when the moral choice is made. Often because of one story or one book or one person, we are able to make a different choice, a choice for humanity, for life.” -Elie Wiesel (1928-2016). When I first read this quote I thought ‘No one is really influenced by people or books, everyone is their own person’. Then I realized that without my friends and family or all the books I have read, I would be very different. I have been changed by them. We are all unique, but we are influenced by almost everything we encounter. I can’t say that one thing has shaped my decision process. There is one book series that has had the most impact, the Harry Potter series.

Those seven books have influenced me in my decision making because they taught me empathy and how to put myself in other people’s shoes. I learned the that actions have consequences. There have been multiple studies which show that people who have read the Harry Potter books can be more tolerant and empathetic. The studies included groups of middle school, high school, and college students and they were asked questions about their opinions of refugees and immigrants. Those that had read Harry Potter were mostly more accepting of refugees and immigrants. Obviously these tests don’t prove that everyone who read Harry Potter automatically likes immigrants more than people who haven’t read the books. People who haven’t read the books can feel the same way. These tests just showed that the people who read them saw examples of discrimination between “pure-bloods” and “muggle-borns”, and they saw how it didn’t matter.

There is something about the main character, Harry, that readers identify with. He teaches us about ourselves and we can find situations in the book that happen to us in real life, if not in the exact same setting. Our decision making processes is shaped by our experiences, the experiences of people around us, and the experiences of people in books.

I now realize that books can influence you and change how you make your choices. I think that I would be a different person if I hadn’t read Harry Potter. The studies show that most people who have read Harry Potter make better ethical decisions. Harry Potter can not take all of the credit, my parents, my family, my friends, my teachers, and everyone I have met all are responsible for me being who I am. I am challenging everyone, to think about who has influenced them, no matter how small, and then think about who they have influenced. I hope it will make everyone a little more appreciative.

Describing the Museum of Tolerance experience

Our field-trip to the Museum of Tolerance

            Last Friday we traveled to the Museum of Tolerance and learned about the Holocaust. It was a changing experience. After the long bus ride we entered the museum and me tour guide Walter. You could tell that he was very passionate about whet he was talking about. It hurt him to expose us to what happened back then, but he wanted us to know what happened so it would never happen again. We wandered through the exhibits and watched the videos of survivors and descriptions of the horrible events that led up to the Holocaust. We went into a replica of a gas chamber and you could imagine gas coming out of the spigots and smell the toxic fumes. After we went through all of the exhibits we got the opportunity to hear a survivor talk about his escape form his country.

           The survivor's name was Rolf, and he described the fear and uncertainty that plagued his town and country. His words were powerful and reached a lot of the audience. Though he did not experience the prison camps of gas chambers, he told us his story of how he barely escaped and was one of the few lucky Jews to get sponsored by an american citizen.

           A quote by Elie Wiesel is "When you listen to a witness, you become a witness". This is true because now I know about the Holocaust, and I know how to prevent it from ever happening again. i have had the chance to speak to a Holocaust survivor! Not many people have that opportunity now a days. We all saw how the hate was started, and how easily another Holocaust could happen. That is why it is so important to know how to prevent this from happening.

A gas chamber

Blog prompt: General Lee's horse journal entry to General Lee about what we have seen

My blog prompt: General Lee's horse writing a journal entry about "what we have seen" to General Lee


Day 20 of traveling

It is me again. Your horse. I am keeping a journal about our journey. Today we traveled through the mud, and we didn't stop all day! There was some new grass growing on the side of the road, you didn't even let me have a nibble! The rows of people and horses made lots of noise. My legs hurt, but I prefer a long trek to a charge into battle like last night! There were explosions everywhere that lit up the night. When are we going to go back to the Pasture? I want to go home.
      Horse out.




 
                     Me in all my glory