......History has seen the rise and fall of countless heroes; each one on their path to glory, redemption, or freedom. These heroes, dead or alive, almost always leave a powerful and thought-invoking legacy behind themselves. We refer to these legacies as stories — sagas of action, love, and drama that inspire us to change our own lives. The subject of Social Studies — the very foundation of it — lies within such stories, which makes them essential to understanding ourselves and our history. 

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......Here are some exciting stories from history that will surely enlighten you and introduce you to Social Studies!

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1. The Nice Canadians:

......As the Second World War raged on with death at every corner, our German military forces — myself included — advanced fearlessly through the ravaged French landscape. The RAF sent planes almost every day, but the Luftwaffe always dealt with them. The Americans sent their ships, but the German Navies continued to hold control over the Atlantic trade routes. The French ducked in their trenches and shot, but a hand grenade was all it ever took to push them back. There was, though, one force — one very elusive and ruthless force — that no one really ever spoke about: The Canadians. 

......As I contemplated the role of the nations part-taking in this gruesome war, a bullet grazed by the tip of my ear. "Ambush!!" shouted my comrade as we all ducked behind the burlap sacks, under the barrage of bullets that sped by thunderously above like photons from the sun that shone upon us. But then, as suddenly as it had began, the firing ceased. Cans of tomato soup rained into our trench from above. Were the Allied forces showing us mercy? Or perhaps these were our own forces that had mistaken us for the Allies. I shouted "more" to see if they were truly friendly. And more they sent; countless red cans came falling down. 

......The soup was delicious, and my comrades and i were certainly starving, as we ate all of it. "Got any more?" we asked with hope. And we were blessed with even more soup. But this time, it appeared slightly different. And then we realized that it wasn't soup at all — it was a handful of hand grenades, and they didn't have pins in them. The last thing I saw before the explosion was a red and white flag waving in the air as my comrades scrambled to exit the trench. The Canadians had finally come for us.

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2.The White Death:

......I, Simo Häyhä, have always been a farmer. Since those days that my father taught me how to sow and maintain the fields, i've been at one with the farmland and the forests. The serenity — the peace — it allures me. My home sits in the north of Finland, deer and moose roam the snow-covered landscape. I've taken a joy in hunting since childhood — I learned to shoot my first gun with my father at the age of 6. I was 34 now — my bones had began to creak and rattle unlike ever before. But I wasn't the only rattly thing — all of Finland had become a shocked, sulking sore on the face of Europe since the Russians had attacked. The Winter War had robbed my country and I of the peace that once defined us, and I would do anything it took to get it back.

......I considered all this as I spotted yet another squadron of Russian soldiers marching through Finnish forests. I lined them up in my iron sight — i refused to use the newer optical sights as they required my head to be much more exposed and thus more vulnerable. I pulled the trigger and one soldier fell. Then another. Then another. Then another. They fell like limp bananas on a summer day, until none remained standing. Not a single one realized where the bullets came from; not a single one spotted me. 

......The Russians had always stuck out like sore thumbs — their tanks and camouflage had been designed to fight the Germans in their grasslands; they weren't suitable for the white Finnish environment. Everyday, I ended the lives of countless men that were led to blindly fight a war that they didn't believe in, all under Stalin's lousy excuse of upholding the already broken Molotov-Ribbentrof Pact. Soon, I became a feared force in the Finnish wilderness — they referred to me as The White Death, but really, I was just a simple farmer.

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      Social Studies is a really fun subject! These stories have been designed to pique your interest in the subject. Throughout your high school journey, you will encounter such historic stories, as they're essential to your understanding of yourself and your own history.