History

"Welcome to history class, I'm Mr. Voltaire," I say as I hand out the syllabus. The same syllabus for the 4th time today, and for 13 years in a row. With little to no changes. That's the beauty of history: the students change, I change, but it stays the same.

"We will be covering a lot this year, please don't hold that against me."

The first class of the year is always a strange time. So many new faces, and thirty new names to learn every period. Every class has its own dynamic, its own stars and, well, scrubs. I mean that in the nicest way possible, of course. As a teacher, I train myself to see everyone's potential. If I didn't, I'd just be a total piece of shit. Maybe I am anyway. There are a lot of those in this school.

All goes well right up until the point where a young woman in a crop top and jeans asks the first question of the year.

"I don't mean to be rude, but can you explain why we need to study history?" Very rude. And very predictable. Never gotten that one before. Except for last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that...some things, like history, never change.

"I'm sorry. One more time?"
"Why do we need to study history?"
"That's a very deep question, almost too deep for the first day of the year." A few chuckles roll through the class.
"Sorry, but I've been wondering ever since I got into the class. We are all taking eight classes every semester, and I am just curious why history is one of them. I am not saying it to spite you or the field in general; I am just curious."

Wow. I am almost impressed. This teenager isn't asking this question out of laziness, or to be a troll. She's genuinely curious. She wants to know what it means to me. With any luck, perhaps we might have a budding historian. That's a lot of pressure for the first day of class!

The answer? I don't really know, to tell you the truth, but I can't go around saying that, can I?

"I'd like to think that there are a lot of lessons to be learned from the past. Along the lines of 'those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.' That kind of thing. What makes you ask that?"
"Well, gee, I just don't know. I guess, like, most of the stuff we learn in school, I kind of get the need for. Stuff like math. Like it's practical. Not all of it, but, like, if you get a good grasp on some of those things, it's useful, ya know? Compound interest, statistics, those kinds of things. Even biology and other sciences have their place; they are all teaching facts and whatnot. And, like, those facts might be useful. But history? What's the point in learning that? How is it applicable? All it seems to be good for is answering trivia questions. Which year did Germany invade Poland? Like, what does that have to do with anything?"

Well, I guess the jig is up. It's been a good run. I wonder what retirement's like at age 38. But maybe I can salvage this...

"I think information is just information," I say. "Sometimes it's useful, but most of the time it is not. It's my job to teach you information. In this particular case, it is about history, not science or math. But history isn't just about facts. History is about stories, it's about people. People who lived before us and went on to do remarkable things. Things that people wrote about, stories that got told over and over to the point where you are reading about it now. It is my job to get you that information, and that is what I intend to do."
"But, like, we have so many things going on. Like, I have seven other classes. Okay, we don't need to count gym... six other subjects that I need to know. Why do I have to throw history in there as well? There is only so much space up there, ya know?" True that, girlfriend. I don't have anything left from any of those subjects I supposedly needed to know.

She continues. "And isn't all of that stuff biased anyway? Like, you are teaching us stuff that happened, so you say. But how can you be sure? We just have to take your word for it, right? Like you have taken the word of those who wrote the books that we have to read. Forget being useful; how can we even be sure that what we are being taught is even... true? Isn't it all essentially biased by the people who wrote the books?"

Perhaps this young woman isn't the budding historian I thought she was.

"Okay, guys, I'm gonna reason with you here. I love history, and I have devoted my life to teaching it...so that you guys go on to sound really smart at dinner conversations, some of you anyway. But the reality of it is...I don't even know if I should say this...but it's not really my call. The Board of Education tells us what subjects are mandatory and what subjects are optional. History is mandatory, so we have to teach it, so I have to teach it, and that is really just why it is so. That is why you have to learn history: because the powers that be tell you you have to learn history."

Bureaucracy, the coward's way out.

"But isn't that... wrong?" Little Miss Crop Top appears to be losing steam.
"If you weren't in high school, it might be wrong. But you are in high school, which means you are not yet an adult. You have to learn what the powers that be tell you, or you suffer the consequences. Sorry to be so candid with you, but that's just what it is. Wish I had a better answer, but I really don't."

"That blows." Even I have to laugh at that one.

"All I can promise is that you guys will learn something. Hopefully, throughout the year, you can learn to look past the specifics and learn the general principles. Mainly, human nature is a cycle, and it repeats itself over and over again. Empires come and go, and for each one that has gone, there is a lesson, and I will attempt to teach those lessons. That's the best I've got. So if it is okay with you, I'd like to get started."
"Okay, I don't love it, but okay."

Be a teacher, they said. You will have an easy life, they said. Liars, all of them. I'll be dealing with this fucking kid all year.

"So let's get started. Mesopotamia..."