OOCLO Reflection 4

A Rich History Going Unnoticed

Reflection on Personal Learning

What I Did

            The OOCLO that I attended was to visit the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canal.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and I would have assumed that many people would have been taking advantage of the walking/biking trail that runs along the canal, but I was all alone.

  There were many exhibits, ranging from early ship decorations that were hand-carved in India, to early zippers and fasteners, to foods and spices that were eaten while at sea, to early sports, to early cars, and many other things.  For myself and not being from this area, I was very interested to learn that this city has such a rich heritage and has contributed so much to making the modern world what it is.  Not only has this city had rich history of useful tools and vehicles, but it has had a worldwide impact due to the creation of the Welland Canal, and the fact that it simplified water transportation.  Because of the Canal and the 10 locks that run through it, transport ships are now able to climb the Niagara Escarpment, and bring hundreds of tons of goods per ship.  Overall the museum had a lot of interesting facts and items to offer, and helped me learn a lot about the history of this city. 

          I have lived in this city for almost 3 years, and I have never even heard of the museum.  I believe that most people take our rich history for granted, and don’t really find it important to know how our city came to be.  It made me sad to think that if our generation doesn’t start caring about this museum, it may close down, and the history will be lost to us forever.    When entering the museum, I thought there would be many people there, including children on a field trip from school, but in the hour that I was there, I didn’t see another soul.  This made me really want to get the word out there that there is a great museum displaying our heritage, and that more people should make an effort to visit it.  In the previous city that I lived in, there was nothing like this museum to display the history of the city.  Maybe because it didn’t have much of an interesting history, I’m not too sure.  The fact that this city does have an interesting history made me sad that no one cared enough to be learning about it.  I feel that I should take personal responsibility to promote this museum and what it has to offer, and to help make our citizens aware that the museum exists, and what amazing treasure it holds!

What I Have Been Asking Myself

           I have been asking myself why I was the only one at this wonderful museum on a bright, sunny, warm day.  From the time I parked, until the time I left, I didn't see another soul except for the employees.  I have since driven past the museum on various occasions and have never seen more than one car in the driveway.  Maybe I just have terrible timing, but it seems that there isn't a very large attendance for this museum and I don't know why.  There should be children attending with their schools, and parents bringing their children to learn about our city's heritage.

What I Learned

           I learned that regardless of the rich history of a city, people feel like they have better places to be, and can’t take the time to visit.  The cost is by donation only, so even those who can’t afford more than just pocket change are still welcome to visit and learn.  I learned that in this day of technology, people are so self-absorbed in their social life that they don’t take the time to physically go places and enrich their knowledge of history and culture. 

         I learned this when I attended this museum for well over an hour, and I was the only one there the entire time.  I see people spending countless hours browsing the internet or roaming the mall, but in place of these activities, they could be getting some culture in their lives. 

         This learning matters because if people don’t start showing an interest in the city’s history, it will go forgotten, and the next generation won’t know the origin of things, and how they came to be.  They won’t understand how things used to be handmade, and how new inventions came to be.  They will know what they have at the present, and not the history of how It got there.  It’s important for us to know how things came to be.  It’s important to know the history of our ancestors, and how they came to develop things to make our modern life possible.  Without them, and their contribution to the advancement of our technology, we would still be living life with great difficulty.  It is because of their modern inventions and ideas that we are able to life as simple of a life as we now can, and it is important that we understand this, and pass down this knowledge to future generations.

          In light of this learning, I have taken my husband to this museum to give him the opportunity to learn about the history of St. Catharines.  I have told some friends up here as well that this museum is a great place to visit.  It is right next to the Welland Canal, and it would be a great day trip to visit the museum and have a nice walk along the canal.