As a student majoring in Chinese and History at City University of Hong Kong, I am frequently asked by secondary school students. I usually encounter questions like: How is it different from studying History in our secondary school? Should I put History as my Band A choice? What can I do after graduation? In this article, I will share more about my study life to answer these questions.

• Do I have to memorize a lot of history content in the university?

You don’t have to memorize all the history content! Instead of memorizing all the content, you should be critical! When you are a secondary school student, you are required to memorize all the complicated past events. Thus, you can answer all the questions in exams. However, The university doesn’t have History exams like the HKDSE anymore. When you study History in the university, you don’t have to memorize all the information. Instead, you need to figure out your own research topics and dig into them. For instance, in my university years, I took some courses about Chinese Art History. I was interested in the origin of Chinese writing. Thus, I studied characters appeared in the Neolithic Period. I analyzed how these characters influenced Chinese writings in later dynasties (e.g., Shang and Zhou Dynasties). In short, studying History in the university put more emphasis on doing history research. You are not expected to commit all the historical event details to memory.

• What should I consider before choosing History as my major in the university ?

You need to consider the following two things. First, studying History at the university requires you to write a lot of papers. For instance, in my university years, I had to write at least 4 academic papers (3000 words each). Even though the works sound challenging, you should not be afraid of writing a lot of words. Second, when you deal with these papers, you need to read many academic books which are quite complicated to comprehend. For example, I had to read a large pile of academic books in the university library. By doing so, I could gain more insights into the chosen topics and construct convincing arguments. If you are afraid of reading throughout your university life, please think twice before choosing History. In short, you need to embrace writing and reading a lot before studying History in the university.

• Do I only study History if I choose History as my major in the university?

Not really. Actually, History is a broad topic. In the university, apart from Imperial History (i.e., the History you studied in secondary school), you will also have courses (e.g. Archaeology, Western Cultural Heritage and Cultural Exchange). For example, I studied World Archaeology and Chinese Art History in the university. Apart from that, I also studied some courses which touched on Arts and Visual culture and arts performance development. As you can see, History in the university touches on different things. If you are interested in these fields, you can choose to study History in the university!

In conclusion, studying history at university differs from learning in secondary school. Although you don’t need to memorize much, you must read and write extensively! However, if you are interested in history-related fields, you will be passionate about reading and writing all the academic papers!