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History, General

Interviews

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What to Expect

From ancient mysteries to the present day, history students learn about how the past brought about the present.

"I love the connection you can make from past events to where people are now," says Marilyn Pedretti, who studied history at Viterbo College. "I also love the human interest stories found in history. The whole thing helps you to define who you are."

Pedretti attended three to four classes a day. Some days, she had some school-related meetings to attend as well. She had three to four hours of homework a night, mainly reading and writing papers.

Evan May took a history degree. He says he attended at least one class a day and spent one to two hours a day reading or doing homework. "At certain times of the year, I [had] to devote significantly more hours to researching my term papers," May says.

May took courses covering many areas, including medieval and Victorian and Canadian history. He particularly enjoyed studying the history of resistance to social structures.

During his college career, May says he was most challenged by time management. "Especially in upper-level courses, term papers simply cannot be completed on short notice," May says.

His best strategy for dealing with a heavy workload was to start thinking about the term paper as soon it was assigned. "The sooner the process of research begins, the less painful it ends up being," he says. "It is essential to maintain a consistent effort over the bulk of the semester to be successful."

How to Prepare

May suggests students take as many history courses as possible in high school. "The more background information you can cram into your head, the better," he says.

English courses are also helpful, because they will help students develop their essay-writing skills. "A well-written and well-structured paper will score significantly higher than one with similar content but of a poorer quality of writing," he says.

Pedretti suggests high school students study on their own outside of school. Pick an area of interest, such as the American West, and simply read about it, she says.

Studying geography also is a good idea in high school. "It's good to know where the places you are talking about in history are located," she says.

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