Students file into the auditorium, excited chatter circulates throughout the room as they file into seats near friends and familiar faces. Eyes pivot from the teachers to friends to an older man who stands before the mouth of the stage as the sound dies down. No one expected it, but that day the sophomore class would hear a story that no one will ever be able to reciprocate, as they learn the lessons a young boy and angry hateful man experienced as he grew into the caring family man he is today.
Wednesday April 10, all sophomores were released from their 2nd and 3rd period classes to hear the life story of Dr. William Samuelson, a holocaust survivor.
“It was a sobering experience but good to hear,” Leander Meadows(10) said.
Meadows and others who were lucky enough to experience this once in a lifetime speech, not only heard the horrifying memories recollected from a 10 year old’s eyes, they also witnessed a human tell his painful experience. They heard the hurt in his voice and how it cracked in an attempt to contain sadness as he told of the anguish in his mother’s voice the last day he saw her, the way he imagined a life for his sister who never made it past the age of 6, and the day he realized he was nothing more than a pit of hate.
“The Holocaust became more real,” Meadows said.
The events Dr. Samuelson spoke of reached far past the plain words in a history book. They were more than any teacher could ever teach, and the lessons he shared with us that he learned from the whole experience and inner conflict he felt will live within the hearts and minds of our classmates forever.
“I was truly thankful that I could hear him speak,” Vanessa Ramirez(10) said.
“I was a little sad that he had to go through all that but it was also inspiring.”
While this generation has been known to take things for granted, every ear that caught his words, soaked with suffering that felt tangible to our young hearts, heard of just how precious every little scrap we have is, and how we should be thankful for everything, not just the material things. There is no doubt that the students have realized just how precious everything is, and are, also, now second guessing their harsh judgements as they heard of Dr. Samuelson’s angels in disguise.
“I will always treasure what I have and try not to judge people,” Ramirez said.
Dr. Samuelson’s speech was truly a moving event that the sophomores were lucky to hear. Students have walked away, learning of true horrors behind the event and how it is possible, even for a man who lost everything, to love and regain control of his life. With new insight and hope filling the students, hopefully they will begin to let these timeless words impact them, and help them mold their life into its greatest form.
