Recently, we were tasked to write a small snapshot autobiography of four significant events from our lives to showcase how even our own history can apply to the 6 historical learning concepts. As part of the assignment it was mandatory to write about your own birth, but the other three events could be about any memory from your life that holds significance to you. We were to create a description of each event, along with a unique visual to represent our snapshot autobiography.

Other than my Birth, I chose to write about my very first day of work, the death of my dog, Bella, and buying my first car. Using the app Canva, I decided to put together a picture collage as my visual.

Event 1: My Birth

On December 23rd, 1999, I was born at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, just 5 minutes short of Christmas Eve. My dad and my grandma were the only ones present in the room when my mom went into labour, and they were the first to see me enter the world as I could only be described as a Christmas miracle. When I was first conceived, my face was a little banged up simply because of how quickly I came out. However, I stopped crying almost immediately. Just two years before, my mom took over eight hours to deliver my sister, but with me the whole process took less than 20 minutes, which is almost unheard of. Still to this day my parents describe me as the cutest, chillest baby they’ve ever seen. I had white, platinum hair and baby blue eyes as clear as the Indian Ocean, and although I wasn’t technically a Christmas baby, my parents took me home on the evening of the 24th, and I know that I was the best gift that they could’ve ever received.

Everything I know about my Birth is second hand knowledge from either my parents or other family members. So in order to gain a better understanding of this event, I did a podcast interview with my mom as a primary source. I used a terrible app, which didn’t allow me to imbed the audio file, called Recorder. I asked her to talk about my Birth to see if what I had written was accurate to her historical account of the event. The podcast link is imbedded below.

Through talking with my mom about my Birth, it’s easy to distinguish several similarities and a few minor differences from my take on the event compared to hers. In my description of my Birth, I noted a lot of basic, second hand knowledge, facts about the date and time of my Birth, what I looked like, and people’s basic reactions. However, although I highlighted the historical significance of the event, I lacked background knowledge and the primary resources necessary to develop a thorough historical perspective of the event, so my interpretation of the event varied slightly from that of my moms. My mom talked about the smallest details leading up to and surrounding my Birth, that would’ve been impossible for me to ever know, but in terms of the description of the event, through my detailed use of the 6 historical lenses, I was pretty spot on with a lot of my facts. However, although I can attempt to imagine what my mom was thinking and going through throughout the process of my Birth, I’m retelling the story solely based on second hand knowledge, and therefore there is bias and minor discrepancies between my historical take on the event and my mom’s. Proper use of the 6 historical lenses can help us avoid these minor discrepancies in understanding a historical event, however, In this case I lacked the primary resources necessary to do so.

Event 2: First Day of Work

About two and a half years ago, as a young and ambitious grade 10, I nervously began my first day of work at Burrard Yacht Club. Having no idea what to expect, I showed up ten minutes early for my shift at 7:30 am with no rain gear, boots, or lunch in hand, but I was eager to get started. We began the day by loading the work boat full of supplies, and we were off the dock no less than ten minutes later on our way to Ekins, a Burrard outstation in Howe Sound.

Nearly 12 hours later we were finally arriving back at Burrard in the dark, 4 hours after my shift had ended, and I’d never been so tired, cold and over exerted in my entire life. The piercing bullet rain hadn’t let up for a single second all day, and I’d lost feeling in my toes 6 hours into rock drilling a hole for an anchor peg. I remember getting home, soaking wet and caked in multiple layers of mud, and flopping on my bed, thinking: “what the heck did I just get myself into? Was every day going to be like this?” I remember being ready to give up and quit after day one. I thought I’d be driving boats and fixing docks, not performing hardcore labour for a measly wage. But no matter what my dad refused to let me quit, waking up at 6:30 every single Saturday for over a year just to drive me.

At the time I didn’t understand why he cared so much, but looking back I realize that he was teaching me a very important lesson that can’t simply be communicated through words. You have to work hard for success, even if it means making countless mistakes along the way. If you give up and quit just because something is tough then you’re never going to get better and you will always fall short of your goals

Event 3: Bella’s Death

When I was only two years old my dad came home and surprised us with my dog Bella. Bella was a small black lab from a litter of four, and my dad spent almost all day with her at the spca, waiting for my mom, so that nobody else would take her. From the very start Bella was a perfect fit to our family. She was so calm and gentle, but also super nice and playful, and honestly just one of the best dogs I could’ve ever asked for. Growing up she was my first friend and she was always there for me no matter what, so when she passed away in March of last year it hit me extremely hard.

For a long time Bella had been slowly deteriorating in old age. Once a spry young dog, by the age of 14 she had been through two hip surgeries, she could barely stand up anymore or walk on her own, and she was very rapidly going deaf and blind. Although I loved her more than words could describe, she no longer had any quality of life, and everyday seemed to be a new struggle, so as a family we came to the decision to put her down in the comfort of our own home. Collectively, I think it was one of the toughest decisions we’ve ever had to make as a family as she smiled right up until the very end. To us Bella wasn’t just a pet, she was a family member, she was Mama Hen.

That was the first time I’d ever seen my dad cry, but for me I think it was especially tough because Bella had always been a part of my life from some of my earliest memories. Even as I write this now it’s hard not to tear up. One of the toughest lessons I’ve learned is to cope with the death of someone that’s close to you. But now, almost a year later, I’m at peace knowing that Bella is in a better place, and knowing that we gave her the best life possible. To us, Bella was only a small part of our lives, but to her we were her whole life, and I find comfort in that.

Event 4: Buying My First Car

Earlier this year I got in a car accident downtown, and I totalled my Subaru Forester that was left to me by my grandma. Luckily, the deductible for the claim only coasted me $500, but than I was left to contemplate whether or not to buy a new car. After being written off, I got $2300 from my cut of the Subaru, and I had made just over $5000 in summer working full time, so I had enough to buy a new ride. However, it was extremely hard for me to justify spending my life’s savings on a car when I have plans to travel next year, and subsequent plans to go to school after that, so I decided to wait on it for a few months… Or well at least until it started to get cold outside.

When November rolled around, and walking to school became no longer enjoyable, I began to frequently check Craigslist several times a day. I had nothing specific in mind, but I was looking for either something flashy that I could be proud of or an old beater truck that I could take off roading in summer. After a little less than a week of looking, I found my baby, a 2000 V6 Convertible Mustang. The price tag was $5000, which was a little bit over my budget if you include taxes and insurance, but it had low miles and an extra set of tires and rims, so against my better judgement I convinced myself to go check it out.

When I went to meet the guy to check out the car and test drive it, I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of it, and the fact that it was being stored under a tarp in an under ground lot. The car had just been freshly waxed and it looked like a million bucks, but it had no insurance, so I could only test drive it in the small lot of the building. Luckily, from what I could tell, it drove great, and after checking all the mechanics under the hood and buying one day of insurance, I payed the guy the agreed upon amount of $4700, and drove off in my swanky new car.

My new car not only allows me to obtain new found independenace, buts it’s essentially a symbol of everything that I’ve earned and worked towards up to this point in my life. While most high school kids spend there summers going on vacation and basking in the sun, I chose to get up at 7:30 every single day to work full time, and I don’t regret it a single bit because I have something to show for it.

I chose these four specific events from my life because they’re historically significant to me. These events represent my growth over the years, my gaining of independence, and the types of lessons that I have learned which have shaped me into the motivated and strong willed person that I am today.

In every story except my birth, I relied on solely my own facts, evidence, and interpretation, as a primary source, to ensure that each historical event matched up exactly to my description. I decided to write about events in my life that were more current and meaningful to me to avoid any discrepancies in fact or interpretation, and I think that made for a detailed and well written narrative of each event. In doing this, I was also able to incorporate historical perspective because my facts and opinions on each event were fresh in my head, allowing me to relive and tell each story almost exactly how it happened.

For each of the events there was a clear cause and consequence. I was born because my parents wanted a second child, and as a consequence that changed there lives forever as they committed to giving up a lot more of their own free time, money and independence to raise me. I originally hated my job and wanted to quit after the first day, but the reason why I’ve stuck with it for so long is because my dad showed me very early on that life if tough and you can’t give up at the first challenge that comes knocking at the door. We put my dog down because she was no longer happy and had little to no quality of life, and the direct consequences of that was the despair I felt, not being able to see her everyday, and learning how to cope with her death. I bought my car because it was getting cold outside and I had money to burn, and a direct consequence of that is the new found independence that I have in owning my own car and paying for it myself. From this quick overview, it’s easy to see how cause and consequence is applicable to almost any significant event from my own life.

Similar to how cause and consequence is applicable to each event, so is change and continuity. When I was born, it imposed some very jurassic changes on my parents lives. They no longer had to take care of one kid, but two, and that more than doubled their responsibility as parents and their barely manageable living expenses. When I got a job, that created a lot of change within my life as my parents stopped paying for a lot of my things, and I lost one of my two precious weekend days. When Bella died, that imposed some serious change on my family and I as we had to learn to live without seeing her every single day. And finally, when I bought my car that influenced a lot of change in my life as I no longer had to walk where ever I go, and I discovered newfound responsibility in owning and maintaining something that I bought and pay for myself with my own hard earned money.

When discussing ethical judgement, and how it relates to each of these events, it’s definitely less applicable than the other 5 historical lenses. Ethical judgement really comes down to what your own opinion is on an event and how that compares to the opinions of others. Some may say it wasn’t ethical to put down Bella. Others may claim that it was unethical to let her degrade, and wait as long as we did to make the appointment. Really there’s no right or wrong, it’s just how you judge the circumstance. Some may say it wasn’t ethical for me to spend my life’s savings on a muscle car, and I partly agree, but it gives me a sense of responsibility that I’ve never experienced before, and at least I have something to be proud of for everything that I’ve worked towards.

In conclusion, through analyzing significant events from my own life, it’s apparent that even my own history is applicable to the 6 historical lenses used to analyze the past.