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We only enjoy learning about wars, historical figures, monuments, and so forth.
WRONG! I personally hate learning about the wars and such. I prefer to look at those who worked on the home fronts, such as the women, and the more social history aspect. I also enjoy learning about historical fashion and how it is adapted for film, theatre, etc.. While there are the survey courses that are offered in first year, which focus more on World War 1 & 2, you start to learn that there is actually an array of historical topics that can be discovered and have nothing to do with wars.
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There are no job opportunities OR you are thrust into the category of teaching.
Well, there may be a slight truth to this. But after earning a History undergraduate degree, you can go further and complete a Masters, or in my case , I’m planning on attending teacher’s college and earning my Masters in Librarian Studies. There are endless opportunities for those who earn their History degree, but they are not as obvious or straightforward as other careers may be. Often you have to pitch yourself and prove that you hold an importance to certain areas. History degrees provide you with beneficial writing and presenting skills that many companies look for.
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It’s all just names and dates.
First off, no, there are not just names and dates. There are facts, photos, biographies, and more. Sure, we have to know names and dates, but there’s also important facts or artifacts from that era that can be connected and further broken down to understand how they were used during their time.
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History Majors are more concerned with the past as opposed to the present.
Oh boy. Now, these are the people that I often question because learning about the past places a HUGE impact on the future. For instance, if we didn’t learn about women’s rights in the past, where would we be now? There are founders names that need to be remembered and thanked for what they have done to get us where we are today. While we do tend to look at the past, we use it as a stepping stone to see how it has shaped the present life that we live in, and how if things were done differently, life would be different in turn.
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We don’t take tests/final exams.
Nope, we are tested just as any other FAHSS (Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences) student is. Sure, there are some that have final presentations or papers instead of a formal exam, but it is pretty rare. Most of the time, we have to memorize things and write exams, too.