The excitement of obtaining my History degree at Mount Royal University in Calgary and learning from some of the most dedicated professors I have ever encountered has inspired me and informed my career choice. Indeed, it might have been my degree in Education that enabled me to secure a job as a middle-school teacher, but I like to think it is my degree in History that has afforded me the longevity in my teaching career thus far. While a Bachelor of Education degree prepares a teacher for important tasks they need such as how to operate a classroom and interact successfully with students, it is my History degree that has been the driving force in knowing the content of what it is I am supposed to teach. Likewise, it is my History degree that has taught me critical thinking skills, provided the foundation for my ability to research topics and present them in meaningful ways, and allowed me to grasp the importance of historical significance, continuity and change and cause and consequence. In fact, my History degree has been so valuable that it has resulted in me being nominated for the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching! It has also enabled me to have the poise to teach in such a way that I hope has encouraged my students to love history as much as do I. Yet, the value of my History degree does not stop there; it has also permitted me to coach and support new Social Studies’ teachers and has assisted me in being able to move from one grade to another (and therefore from one period of history to another) with the faith and conviction needed to teach such a wide array of topics. Without my History degree, I’d never have the self-assurance to be able to try and improve myself, my craft, and expand my knowledge for the betterment of my students, who are always the primary concern of any teacher.
