When I was younger like most children I wanted to be a number of different things when I grew up, but for the most part the careers I wanted to go into revolved around science. Without really noticing when I started my A-levels my attention turned towards history as my chosen field of study and remains to be to this day as I have just completed my last year of my BA degree.
History has always been a subject that I enjoyed but I don't think I ever really considered it to be an area I would want a career in when I was younger. Since I started studying history at university it's opened my eyes to the numerous areas of history that people look at and find interesting. The range being from big topics like the First World War to events in small towns like the Llanelli Riot in 1911. It has shown me that no subject is too big or too small to study and it's likely that somebody else has an interest in the same things as you. Even if it seems like you're the only person interested in a certain topic it could be you that inspires others to take an interest as well.
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to spend my life doing something important. Admittedly the definition of important depends a great deal on context - there is a big difference in the important work cancer researchers do compared to the research I plan to do as a historian. The difference however, does not make one more important than the other as they are important in their own rights but for extremely different reasons.
I've always believed that history is one of the most important subjects to study because there is so much we can learn about the past societies that have shaped ours. The events and people that we barely take notice of are going to be history one day. It will be interesting to see how our lives are looked back on by historians in the future. I really hope that more children in the future will enjoy learning about history and will consider it as a field of study because the stereotypes surrounding historians are very misleading and in the majority of cases are untrue.
We live in a world where history is being written around and about us everyday, and for me, that is very exciting. The fact that there is always something new to learn, new stories to hear, new artifacts and sources being found is one of the reasons why I love studying history. I'm generally a very curious person so to be able to study a subject and never run out of things to look at is my version of heaven! My interests vary to a large degree, but currently, when I grow up (a bit more) I aspire to be a professional historian that focuses on Wales during the nineteenth century.
What did you want to be when you were younger, and did you follow that dream?!
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