Who Are You and Where Are You Going?
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| The Levee Road; Port Sulphur, LA - Photo by Larry Foulk, Jr |
December 15, 2021
WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Who are you and where are you going? When I teach history, this is the first question I ask students. In part, I ask this question because it is a question I ask myself...and I ask it often. Another reason is because I have a real interest in getting to know my students. I am naturally curious about others' stories. Others' stories is such an appealing quality of my own experience of living in the world that it helps explain why I chose to study and teach history...I am drawn to our stories. I also ask the question, especially as a history teacher, because I believe it begs us to reflect at some deeper level - a human level - upon our own personal history, upon where we have been. I ask this question because I want to believe there is an opportunity for us to learn something deeply truthful about ourselves, our relationships with others, and our place in the world, and this question invites us to do all of this as we endeavor to study the past.
Who are you and where are you going? When I teach history, this is the first question I ask students. In part, I ask this question because it is a question I ask myself...and I ask it often. Another reason is because I have a real interest in getting to know my students. I am naturally curious about others' stories. Others' stories is such an appealing quality of my own experience of living in the world that it helps explain why I chose to study and teach history...I am drawn to our stories. I also ask the question, especially as a history teacher, because I believe it begs us to reflect at some deeper level - a human level - upon our own personal history, upon where we have been. I ask this question because I want to believe there is an opportunity for us to learn something deeply truthful about ourselves, our relationships with others, and our place in the world, and this question invites us to do all of this as we endeavor to study the past.
You might be able to surmise that students answer this question in any number of different ways..."I am [fill in the blank]!" And..."I am going to [fill in the blank]!" I enjoy listening to students' responses. In fact, I encourage everyone in the classroom to pay close attention to the answers. I believe these answers not only reveal something about our identities as human beings but these answers also reveal something about how our understanding of the past informs our understanding of things in the present and the future.
We are always living during the most interesting of times. This present moment - our time - is no different. It may seem to some of us that certain times are more interesting than others. However, I am of the opinion that there is no more interesting time than our time, now. The past informs our understanding of the nature of times, and this notion is true regardless what time one may be reflecting upon or studying. We must be careful when casting off - some of us, perhaps, on our maiden voyage - to study the past lest we lose sight of the central essence of the story - our humanity. Our humanity embodies the richness of all things. Who are we and where are we going? This question begs us, invites us to share and, therefore, grow in our understanding of one another and all that is the past.
Be Good,
Larry Foulk, Jr.
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