History Personal Statement Example 55

It was during a project in Year Six that I first became interested in History. I was making a presentation about World War II, and my grandmother brought out her own gas mask for me to see. I was immediately fascinated by the realisation that the seemingly distant events - almost fictionalised to my young mind - really did happen, that my grandmother was there during World War II. From then on, I consumed as much History as I could: endless books on Greek mythology, reading and re-reading the Iliad as a child, personal research projects and posters made on Communist Europe. It became my ambition from the age of ten to eventually study History at university.

This personal interest continued as I eventually went on to study History at A Level. I eagerly read Tom Holland's 'Persian Fire', which explores the history of the Persian Empire, and its relations with its neighbouring countries. This was completely unlike anything I had the opportunity to learn about in my school education, and I found the independent research to be enlightening and engaging. I further made visits to the Natural History Museum, which was additionally captivating, as it was completely separate from the kind of history I had been taught at school. During a trip to Paris, I visited the Louvre. I had no prior knowledge of art history, and learning about past cultures and ways of life expressed through art was an engrossing experience. During a more sombre trip, I attended a talk by a Holocaust survivor at the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre. Hearing a first-hand account of these events only furthered my aspiration to pursue learning about history at degree level.

My academic studies have additionally contributed to my ambition of studying History at university. Studying English Literature at AS gave me an insight into historical cultures, through reading and analysing classical texts, an aspect which I found to be the most investing part of the subject. My studies of both Geography and Media Studies at A level have given me a much wider and more knowledgeable perspective on current events in politics, and has furthered my interest in learning how the events of the past have impacted upon and created the world we live in today. Of course, studying History at A level has only solidified my long-time goal of pursuing a History degree. I have found learning about the history of Europe to be particularly interesting, with my studies of the French and Russian Revolutions inciting a desire to further study these subjects. My independent coursework into the Civil Rights Movement has also been insightful and has strengthened my abilities in independent research and source analysis, which I feel will help me at university.

Outside of academia, my participation within secondary school included aiding students with learning disabilities, both in their studies and in their life within school. I was additionally a prefect and a member of the student council, and at Sixth Form I was a member of the LGBT Society, which I feel has given me improved skills in debating and decision-making, which will be extremely helpful in my studies of History at degree level.

My deep and lifelong interest in History, and my strong desire to develop my skills as a historian in analysing the events of the past, are why I very much want to study History at university. I would eventually like to attain further qualifications in the subject, in order to pursue a career in the line of museum work. I believe that I have the drive and ambition to work hard for my degree, and that my abilities as a student and an academic will be an asset in my university studies.