Finding out that you have some extra time in your hands? Looking for an extra-curricular that will look good on your college application? Look no further as National History Day may be what you need in your school year (or resúme, whatever you prefer).
What is National History Day?
National History Day, or NHD for short, is an annual contest that is internationally affiliated; based around making projects on specific events of history, it is meant to encapsulate a particular theme given that year. The process resembles that of a science fair requiring students to research several sources in depth, and eventually put it all together in a project to deliver it in a medium of their choice. Students have a choice of five mediums: documentary, exhibit, performance, research paper, or website, and they have the option to work individually or in a group of up to five. With their completed projects, whatever it may be, students go to their local event to present their work and see what others have put together. In addition, the winners of these local contests have the opportunity to compete in the National Contest against all the top students of other local contests.
Why should you participate?
The most obvious reason, and possibly the biggest for most students, to participate in NHD would be the rare opportunity it gives o shine on one’s college application. National History Day has grown from its humble roots to become a widely-recognized international competition of history. Therefore, winning in a local contest, or, better yet, the National Contest would serve as a great addition to one’s college résumé. However, there are many other great skills and experiences to gain from NHD, even if one does not win.
NHD revolves heavily around an analysis of historical evidence, so it comes as no surprise that this experience serves to greatly develop a student’s researching skills. Students learn to find reliable and useful primary and secondary sources quickly and efficiently, while also developing critical thinking on such sources. This in turn helps students go beyond what’s written to make inferences and conclusions based on text. Due to NHD requirement of including an annotated bibliography that is, as a matter of fact, part of the rubric judges use to grade students’ projects, students also learn how to organize researched information through notes and the annotated bibliography. All these skills serve to be useful for ALL students as research and the ability to evaluate and organize evidence go beyond just history and humanities.
As working in a team is an option, another great benefit of NHD is the teamwork. The sheer amount of work needed for a group project removes any chance for an individual to thrive alone, requiring each group member to play their pivotal part in order to create a successful project. And from this, group members develop skills such as communication in and out of person, leadership and asserting of one’s points while remaining open-minded of others’ ideas, and the giving and receiving of constructive, respectful criticism. Also, considering the long durations of time group members end up working with each other, they are bound to get closer and become better friends. Working individually can also have its benefits. Students learn to not rely on others for things to get done, becoming more proactive and more likely to take-charge in a group setting in the future. Either way, NHD serves as a great opportunity to develop one’s social skills.
The final reason to participate in NHD is simply to learn history. Students throughout the process practically learn every single detail about their chosen topic, which in turn, leads to a student who is far more educated and aware of the events of yesterday that brought upon today and how that affects oneself. For example, my group and I participated in NHD last year and chose the 4·3 incident as our topic. This year’s theme is Breaking Barriers in History, so think about how this may connect to you, whether it’s through your heritage, community, or interests, and choose a topic that reflects that.
How do you sign up?
Have I convinced you? If so, just go to this website: https://sites.google.com/daltonschool.kr/nhdkorea/affiliate-contest-information?authuser=0. It has all the information you need to know to sign up! Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
Work Cited
Five Students Around Table. Feb. 2019.
“Logo of National History Day .” National Contest Info | National History Day | NHD, National History
Day, 2018, www.nhd.org/national-contest.
“NATIONAL HISTORY DAY:” NHD, National History Day, 2018,
www.nhd.org/breaking-barriers-history.
“Students Presenting Projects.” Project Categories | National History Day | NHD, National History Day,
2018, www.nhd.org/categories.