When the facts were presented to me, my teachers insinuated that the use of the atom bomb was “unavoidable.” I'm now open to hearing different takes.

If you look at the war as a whole and consider the bombing strategies used, you might find that judgements on those bombs and the reality of the war might make the bombs not as significant as one would think, especially since they had warning in those cities before they were dropped.

This was Japanese behavior at the time. Consider that. And consider the Bombing of Tokyo.

Using or not using the atomic bombs is mostly a consideration of whether such weapons were worth developing rather than whether they should be used.

The bombs themselves didn't do anything in a tactical sense that was special.