Statement of Purpose
From as young an age as I can remember, I have always had a great love of stories. My father and grandfather always had a knack for storytelling that captivated me throughout my childhood, a skill which I always admired. As amateur historians themselves, these paternal figures often told of their specific historical interests, whether it be personal histories, family histories, and in the case of my father, sports histories, all of which piqued my interest in the historical discipline and the potential it held for narrative storytelling. The narrative aspect of history continues to be the forefront of my interest, which has only been strengthened by my experience with other aspects, such as research and collaborative history.
Through further education, my goal is to hone my narrative history skills to pursue a career in a field of history that gives great access to a large audience: Public history. Whether it be through creating exhibits that construct stories and interpretations through historical artifacts or writing publicly available and accessible platforms, I would love to share my skills and expertise with the public.
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My educational background so far consists of a high school diploma, which came with an award from my school’s history department for “An Outstanding achievement in Social Studies”, no doubt because of my hard work in the historical discipline. I am currently attending the University of Central Florida working towards a bachelor’s degree and am expected to graduate in the Spring of 2026 with a major in history, as well as a minor in theatre and a German Studies certificate. The major is giving me the essential skills I need in the discipline of history, which will help me with my research, general historical knowledge, and tools of the trade such as citations and writing. The theatre minor will give me a great basis for storytelling, because that’s essentially what theatre performance and production is. Using my knowledge of how to get across ideas and emotions to a general audience from my theatre studies will be incredibly useful in a career in public history. Lastly, the German studies certificate is perhaps the most self-explanatory, as with proficiency in the German language and history, my horizons on what resources and histories I will be able to interpret and share will be broadened tremendously. My interest in the history of German unification will be much easier to access with a solid foundation of the language and national culture.
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Just last year for a public history class, I worked with a partner to create a presentation for a theoretical public history museum in a field of our interest. Using my knowledge and vast primary sources from the world of professional wrestling, we created a pitch for a museum to celebrate the art form while campaigning for the future safety and regulation of the sport. This project, as well as others in multiple history classes, have prepared me to work with others and publicly available information to present to an audience, which will be the case in public history (though a public history audience is admittedly much larger and broader than a classroom). I also occasionally volunteer for the local German American Society of Central Florida at events which celebrate and educate the public about German culture history and its integration into the Americas. Working at events such as this in a society where amateur historians and culturists work to preserve heritage and educate the general public gives me experience in engaging with the public for historical purposes
These activities, along with my educational background and further education have been chosen specifically to propel myself towards a successful public history degree where I will be able to use my narrative history skills to productively engage in the discipline with the public.