History. The bane of many of the census’ existence. It is a required subject in high school, and memories of a tired high school teacher droning about John Smith picking his nose at 3:45 pm on April 2, 1946, may be your “fondest” memory of it. Boldly assuming you attend Northwestern, you know it is a required General Education credit in which you likely chose a random Dr. Winn class to fill. You likely have heard people tell you the importance of history because historical repetition is predominantly frowned upon – no one wants a World War III – or maybe you heard that it is important to learn about other cultures. These are very valid reasons to learn history, but I want to introduce you to a new perspective.
If you have a conversation with me for more than a minute, you will easily discover that I am obsessed with history – specifically German history. I have started a collection of German history books to put in my future library; I spent only ten seconds convincing my boyfriend of its necessity. You may be thinking, “Why is a Genetics/Molecular and Cellular Biology major writing a Beacon Opinions article about history?” Good question. I believe that there are two main reasons why you should study history.
I believe one purpose for learning history is to strengthen creativity. I love writing and drawing, and I hate writers’ and artists’ blocks, which is an unfortunate common occurrence for me. So, where do I find inspiration? I whip out the good old Google and go down a rabbit hole of different historical timelines. Obviously, time travel is not possible, and this is where God’s gift of imagination comes in. Sure, it might be easy to just read about the Battle of Teutoburg Forest of 9 AD and memorize key events, but can you put yourself in the battlefield? Can you see the fear in the Romans soldiers’ faces, hear the battle cries of the Germanic warriors, smell the iron from all the blood and feel the damp cool air of the September evening? Can you envision Arminius in the center of it all and see the look of betrayal in Varus’ eyes? You can? Ta-da, you have a short story to write or a scene to draw! Your block is cured for a total of five minutes before you need new inspiration, and you can guess what my suggestion is to rid it. It is a win-win: you get to create, and you get to learn. I believe it is no coincidence that a lot of creative and artistic people, like me, enjoy learning history. We make art, and history is the prompt.
What if you do not enjoy being creative? Well, here is another positive purpose to history that most could agree with, yet do not know about: Learning about the people in history gives you perspective. I am not talking about “major historical figures” like George Washington, Genghis Khan or Arminius. I am referring to the ordinary Egyptian boy whose preserved tragic spelling exam can be seen today, or the random Roman citizen whose insult to his nemesis on a random wall is still being laughed at to this day. I see beauty in the ordinary and little things history can easily gloss over. Okay, maybe an insult to someone is not very “beautiful,” but the point is: history can teach you about a level of humanity we take for granted. We are not perfect people, and if you think about it, we are the same students, teachers, lovers, parents and children as we were thousands of years ago. I can relate to that Egyptian boy because I am awful at spelling. I am sure we can all relate to the Roman who wrote that insult. The times and technology have changed but we, in our day-to-day routines, have not.
If you are reading this article and thinking, “What is she on about? Sounds like straight gibberish.” Well then, I do not blame you. However, I hope you got my main two points: History allows for creativity and humanity. History is not just about the fact that John Smith picked his nose at 3:45 pm on April 2, 1946 – it is writing a story about John Smith and acknowledging we are not so different from him and appreciating that.
