10 problems only History students can relate to

1) What are you going to do with a History degree then?

Yep the endless questions about where a history degree is going to get you in the future. You're fed up people asking you "why is history important" and "why would you want to learn about things in the past that aren't relevant now?"

2) Everyone thinking you're an expert

Doing a history degree suddenly seems to mean that you must know every part of history inside out. You're completely fed up of your parents getting annoyed at you when you can't answer a history question on University Challenge. But you're a history student? Yeah soz I don't know the primary causes of the Crimean War.

3) Not being able to watch historical films without criticising their historical inaccuracies

"Yeah, but Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots didn't actually meet up in real life so that's not really historically correct is it" you say as everyone rolls their eyes.

4) Spending more time in the library than you do in your house

Yep, it's your new second home. Dissertation deadline is looming and the library has literally become your everything. There's a book fort surrounding you as you spend 12 of the 24 hours of the day in the library, drinking coffee after coffee and wondering if you'll finish your degree or if your degree will finish you.

#newhome

5) Endless reading

It never ends. Readings lists with 500 books and journal articles listed to get through are the norm, as are two 50 page seminar readings on the impact of the British Industrial Revolution. You spend ages trawling through books to find the one small chapter relevant to your essay topic.

IT NEVER ENDS

6) Finding primary sources is the bane of your life

Literally spending about 9 hours in the library attempting to navigate the uni's primary source archives to find about three primary sources that are actually of any use to you. And trying to translate 13th century handwriting is enough to give anyone a headache.

7) Forgetting like 90 per cent of what you've learnt as soon as you've left the exam

You've spent three/four months reading and learning everything about a small part of history, spending 18 hours a day during revision week trying to remember all the key dates and mind-mapping all of the causes of the Russian Revolution for you to get out of the exam hall and not remember a thing. It's like the past three months never happened.

8) Turning up to a seminar and having absolutely no idea what is going on

It's probably because you haven't done the reading, but it could be because someone begins to start talking about a topic that you aren't familiar with and you have absolutely no idea what you're going on about. You just have to nod, look at the floor and pray your tutor won't ask for your opinion.

9) Spending all your student loan on key books that you'll never even open

It's been stressed to you by your module tutor that you need to get these key books in order to pass the module. So you've forked out 100 quid on two books, only to find out that a) there were numerous copies available in the library and b) you'd never actually use them. You then desperately put them on Pass the Book hoping some poor soul will do exactly the same and buy them off you.

#Pooraf

10) And finally thinking that you'd have lots of free time doing a History degree

Seven/eight contact hours a week? Plenty of time to go out and enjoy yourself right? You felt sorry for all the BSC students in 9-5 everyday. Hahaha, how wrong you were you? Copious amounts of reading, primary source research and essay writing means every time you actually have a lecture, it seems like a massive inconvenience to your study day.