Please stop asking me what I’m going to ‘do’ with my history degree

I am often asked, “What are you gonna do with a history degree?”

Now, I totally understand the instinct that forces that query – after all, I’m not going to become a brain surgeon off the back of knowing about long-dead emperors, am I? However, I myself have more chance of becoming a brain surgeon than a history teacher, which seems to be the only thing that people believe one can do with a qualification in that subject. I’ve no interest in teaching, and while I may not be reaching for a scalpel any time soon, I do wish that people could see what I see in history.

Let me take you back to the start of my relationship with history. I was wandering around my local college’s open day, with little direction but the knowledge that I definitely didn’t want to do maths. Or chemistry. Or any of the sciences.

I found myself heading for the history department and ambled towards the nearest free teacher to find out a little more, before an extremely determined mother laid eyes on the same person and seemed to cover the entire distance of the room in two giant strides, dragging her poor, clearly uninterested, daughter along with her.

Perhaps I should have been a bit more forceful, but I can’t begin to describe the lawlessness of a college open evening. I didn’t get to see that teacher, or any other at the history department, as I was swept aside by a sea of parents telling themselves that their kids would love learning about the Battle of Agincourt, when really, they would be much happier in a science lab. Never had I seen the sacred British art of polite queuing so utterly disgraced.

Managing to shake off my disorientation, I noticed a small room at the end of the corridor with a sign that read: “Ancient History”.

Now, I’d like for my love of the classical world to have stemmed from some reading of Marcus Aurelius, Plato or Socrates when I was younger, but the truth is much more humble (and dare I say realistic?). I’d recently watched Zack Snyder’s 300, the cinematic re-telling of the tale of King Leonidas and his elite Spartan soldiers heroically defending the narrow passages at Thermopylae against the might of King Xerxes’ Persian hoard. So, with “This is Sparta!” ringing in my ears, I made a bee-line for it.

In that room, I was lucky enough to find the best two teachers I ever had. They spent the next two years nurturing my curiosity in the subject and developing the skills required to study history.

Once it came time to choose university, there really was only one choice in terms of subject, given my new-found love of Greeks and Romans. However, if I told you that I chose Newcastle University because of the outstanding Ancient History department (which, in fairness, they do possess), or its close proximity to Hadrian’s Wall, I would be lying. Just as my love of history developed from a silly movie, my relationship with the city of Newcastle began with (to my shame, and my Whitley Bay native partner will kill me for saying this), Geordie Shore. You will be glad to hear that my depth of understanding of both subject and city developed enormously throughout the four years I spent in that wonderful place.

And then it was over. It all felt so quick. Now I found myself wondering: what am I going to do with myself? I had been constantly asked about my future and my defensive reaction should have told me that, in reality, I didn’t really know what I could do or even wanted to do. However, when I sat down with the people closest to me and began examining the skills I had picked up studying history, it occurred to me that I was far more prepared for adult life than I had believed.

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A huge takeaway from the subject is curiosity – you simply cannot study any type of history without questioning everything (pretty handy in my line of work as a journalist). Many people in many walks of life will use analysis skills, data or literary reviewing, critical thinking and presenting on a daily basis, and this is the bread and butter of any history course.

Now that’s all well and good, but it isn’t all about “transferrable skills”. I saw so many people around me at college and university pick subjects because they were good at them, not because they enjoyed them. Even though I got a brilliant grade, saw some amazing things in some wonderful parts of the world during my degree, I am most happy about the fact that I spent my time studying something I genuinely had a passion for.

It made getting up for those 9am seminars with a heavy head much more attractive, the late-night cramming that much easier and the prospect of exams much less daunting. Taking this forward into my career now, it’s taught me not to settle for a job where I am anything less than stimulated, challenged and enjoying myself. Hence I write for you, readers, at The Independent.

You see, it isn’t all about skills for the CV, it’s about learning what you value in life. I loved to ask questions and to write. History let me do that within a wild context of myth, war, human nature and much more – what’s not to love?

There is no obvious career path for someone who studies history, as I said at the beginning, you probably can’t become a brain surgeon on the back of an ancient history degree, but that in its own way is why it’s so brilliant. The possibilities are endless and yes, that does make it a little more daunting for a young person who wants it all figured out, but I would urge them (and their parents) to do what they love, the rest will take care of itself.