Clio90808 t1_itgznax wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:10 PM

Reply to comment by kojohn11 in Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday! by AutoModerator

I did graduate study in Medieval European history and was expected to be able to read German, French and Latin as a minimum.

kojohn11 t1_itirobc wrote on October 23, 2022 at 11:06 PM

This may sound like a really stupid question, but what made you decide on medieval European history? Were you always interested in it? Right now I’m in undergrad and I know i want to go to graduate school for in particular. I just don’t have a area I want to specialize in though

Clio90808 t1_itlrsqf wrote on October 24, 2022 at 4:13 PM

Well because it gave me chills and I just loved it. Nothing really rational about my decision tbh. I also love ancient history but had enough trouble with Latin, didn't want to tackle Greek. I discovered fairly late that I didn't enjoy teaching that much though. If you don't know Latin well, medieval can be a real challenge. I never mastered it.

kojohn11 t1_itm4xmk wrote on October 24, 2022 at 5:38 PM

What profession are you in now?

Clio90808 t1_itoqoid wrote on October 25, 2022 at 5:00 AM

I turned to the dark side eventually and got an MBA...worked in research on financial markets...I got to do some financial/economic history along the way. Studying history taught me so much: how to do research; how to analyze; how to create an argument and support/defend it; how to write a paper...I used all that in my career. Also if you work internationally, knowing their history can be a big plus.

For a successful career outside of history after majoring in it, it certainly helps to have graduate training in whatever non-history career path you choose. If you like to teach, then history may be a good path on its own. My problem was that I didn't enjoy teaching that much and you need to love it to make it through, to make history your life work.