Okay, so as many of you know, I love history. It is an intense passion of mine. Getting my degree in history was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. And I am currently looking to pursue graduate study in the subject as well. In particular, I'm interested in French history, specifically the years 1750-1870. I'm really looking forward to getting the chance to pursue my dreams.

In the meantime, I discovered something fascinating. Did you know that there are FREE distance learning courses that you can take online at colleges like Stanford, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, etc.? You don't receive course credit for these classes, so they won't be on your transcript, but the lecture materials are provided online. Several of them even provide video lectures, midterms, finals, essay questions, etc. Now, I know my inner dork is showing, but that's okay lol. If you're interested in looking at some courses, you should google free online classes or free online open courses and get started! For me, this was a great option since I'm thirsty for knowledge. The courses I'm taking are from Yale, Carnegie Mellon, and the Open University in the UK. It is absolutely mind blowing to be able to learn from so many different sources and utilize the knowledge they are offering for free! It's really expanding my horizons and I want to share it with all of you!

Anyway, the whole point of this blog post is to share a poem one of my history professors just shared in class. It really sums up my love for history and my desire to know the who, what, when, where, why...the particulars of history. The poem was written by Bertolt Brecht in 1935. I just wanted to share it with you :-)


"A Worker Reads History"

Who built the seven gates of Thebes?
The books are filled with the names of kings.
Was it kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?

And Babylon, so many times destroyed,
Who built the city up each time?

In which of Lima's houses, 
The city glittering with gold, live those who built it?

In the evening, when the Chinese wall was finished
Where did the masons go?

Imperial Rome is full of arcs of triumph.
Who reared them up?

Over whom did all the Caesers triumph?
Byzantium lives in song.
Were all he dwellings palaces?

And even in Atlantis, of the legend,
The night the seas rushed in,
The drowning men still bellowed for their slaves.

Young Alexander conquered Indai.
He alone?

Caesar beat the Gauls.
Was there not even a cook in his army?

Phillip of Spain wept as his fleet was sunk and destroyed.
Were there no other tears?

Frederick the Great triumphed in the Seven Years War.
Who triumphed with him?

Each page a victory, at whose expense was the victory ball?
Every ten years a great man.
Who paid the piper?
So many particulars...
So many questions...


And I'm on a mission to dive into the history of it all! The future looks amazingly bright :-)
~Pam ♥