(Historical) interview
Hello!
For my last English assignment, I had to interview someone that I look up to or someone that followed the course that I am going to follow once I am graduated from high school: history. I will do this at the Catholic University of Leuven. With this interview, I hope to get some tips and tricks that might come in handy when I start next year. I already want to thank my history teacher for letting me ask the questions. Here it goes, hope you enjoy!
-What made you want to follow this course?
Up to the 4th year of secondary school I studied Latin, but by the end of that year I was getting tired of it. I decided to study science and mathematics in the 5th and 6th year. It didn’t take long before I realized that I had no passion for science and mathematics. Besides, I missed the Latin lessons with all its Roman culture. So I decided to study history and to choose antiquity as my specialization.
-Are there any historic periods that you are bored of, or any that you are interested in?
The Greek and Roman period really fascinates me. The fundamental grounds of our society were founded back then. I can be very impressed by ancient writers’ observations about mankind: they make you realize that the human character has not changed over time. Religion played little of a role in the thinking of ancient writers, so although their texts are written thousands of years ago, they feel very much written by a contemporary. At first I was less interested in modern history. But later on, by teaching in all grades of secondary school, I started to appreciate all historical periods. Every period is interesting for its own reasons and you can learn many things from every period.
-Did you want to get the job you have today when you started or was there another profession on your mind?
I already decided in the 5th year of secondary school to become a history teacher, so I succeeded in that. I also hoped to end up in a school full of motivated students, but you can’t have everything in life. Although I specialized in antiquity at the university, I chose courses from every historical period to be prepared to teach in every grade.
-Do you think the choice of following this course was the right one for you?
Yes. If I were to do it all over again, I would study exactly the same. It made me a more critical and, on the other side, an open-minded person. By learning about other societies and societies in the past, you realize that nothing in our society is self-evident. Besides that, you learn to see patterns in human behaviour. In our society, science and mathematics are extremely highly valued because we are preoccupied with the idea of progress, but we forget it’s just as important to reflect on our society and about the advantages and disadvantages progress can bring with it.
-Would it be possible to follow this course while proceeding to train a lot?
That should not be a problem. You don’t have a lot of lessons because there are no practical lessons like in engineering courses. I had an average of 15 hours of lessons a week, never more than 20. You just need to discipline yourself to work enough during the year: go through your study books, work on tasks etc. I spent a lot of time on drinking beer, so if you change drinking beer to practicing, it will be perfectly possible for you to combine studying and training.
-Is there any advice you’d like to give me about the classes, studying etc.?
Most lessons are very interesting, so I would recommend you not to skip too many lessons. The professors are specialists in their subjects so you can learn a lot from them. It took me a while to find a good study method. In the beginning I made a lot of summaries, until I realized I lost too much time by making them. It’s more efficient to mark your courses well: when you use different colors and only mark key words, you have a perfect overview. I also had difficulties to remain focused while studying, until I started to study while walking through my room and talking to myself. By walking I remained active, and by talking and listening to myself my brain wasn’t able to wander in thoughts. On top of that it’s a good exercise because most exams are oral.
For my last English assignment, I had to interview someone that I look up to or someone that followed the course that I am going to follow once I am graduated from high school: history. I will do this at the Catholic University of Leuven. With this interview, I hope to get some tips and tricks that might come in handy when I start next year. I already want to thank my history teacher for letting me ask the questions. Here it goes, hope you enjoy!
-What made you want to follow this course?
Up to the 4th year of secondary school I studied Latin, but by the end of that year I was getting tired of it. I decided to study science and mathematics in the 5th and 6th year. It didn’t take long before I realized that I had no passion for science and mathematics. Besides, I missed the Latin lessons with all its Roman culture. So I decided to study history and to choose antiquity as my specialization.
-Are there any historic periods that you are bored of, or any that you are interested in?
The Greek and Roman period really fascinates me. The fundamental grounds of our society were founded back then. I can be very impressed by ancient writers’ observations about mankind: they make you realize that the human character has not changed over time. Religion played little of a role in the thinking of ancient writers, so although their texts are written thousands of years ago, they feel very much written by a contemporary. At first I was less interested in modern history. But later on, by teaching in all grades of secondary school, I started to appreciate all historical periods. Every period is interesting for its own reasons and you can learn many things from every period.
-Did you want to get the job you have today when you started or was there another profession on your mind?
I already decided in the 5th year of secondary school to become a history teacher, so I succeeded in that. I also hoped to end up in a school full of motivated students, but you can’t have everything in life. Although I specialized in antiquity at the university, I chose courses from every historical period to be prepared to teach in every grade.
-Do you think the choice of following this course was the right one for you?
Yes. If I were to do it all over again, I would study exactly the same. It made me a more critical and, on the other side, an open-minded person. By learning about other societies and societies in the past, you realize that nothing in our society is self-evident. Besides that, you learn to see patterns in human behaviour. In our society, science and mathematics are extremely highly valued because we are preoccupied with the idea of progress, but we forget it’s just as important to reflect on our society and about the advantages and disadvantages progress can bring with it.
-Would it be possible to follow this course while proceeding to train a lot?
That should not be a problem. You don’t have a lot of lessons because there are no practical lessons like in engineering courses. I had an average of 15 hours of lessons a week, never more than 20. You just need to discipline yourself to work enough during the year: go through your study books, work on tasks etc. I spent a lot of time on drinking beer, so if you change drinking beer to practicing, it will be perfectly possible for you to combine studying and training.
-Is there any advice you’d like to give me about the classes, studying etc.?
Most lessons are very interesting, so I would recommend you not to skip too many lessons. The professors are specialists in their subjects so you can learn a lot from them. It took me a while to find a good study method. In the beginning I made a lot of summaries, until I realized I lost too much time by making them. It’s more efficient to mark your courses well: when you use different colors and only mark key words, you have a perfect overview. I also had difficulties to remain focused while studying, until I started to study while walking through my room and talking to myself. By walking I remained active, and by talking and listening to myself my brain wasn’t able to wander in thoughts. On top of that it’s a good exercise because most exams are oral.
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