As much as I love reading, not all books have had such a profound impact on my life as the book above. This book takes place during World War Two on the ship The Wilhelm Gustloff. The ship was carrying nearly 10,000 German refugees. The ship was sunk by Russian torpedoes killing over 9,000 people, making this the worst maritime disaster in history. I am a high school history education major, and I have never heard of this tragic event. I remember staying up until three in the morning fuming about how I have never been taught this in history class. This tragic display of human cruelty has been hidden away as if it never happened. This led me to wonder why certain material is emphasized in a history class, while other material is not. What makes one event more important than another? I pondered this question for the better half of the night, and I came to a solution: Nothing, absolutely nothing. When I am a history teacher I will have some freedom in choosing what I emphasize. I feel as though it is my duty to teach what has been cast aside or forgotten. I have loved history because there is always something new for me to discover. There will always be something new to alter my perspective of the world. This motivates me to keep searching through the past, looking for events that I never knew happened. Learning about these events will enrich my mind, and I will be able to share this knowledge with my future students.