History is the stories that make up life. My history is different from the history of the school. My parents have a history, their parents, and so on for hundreds of generations. History can also come from things like journals, movies, old letters, declarations, folktales, and traditions. History can be how people dressed, or ate, or acted. One example of history is my family, and specifically my Grandpa Shurtliff. He was a basketball, football, and track coach, and is known throughout southern Utah. When people hear my name they automatically say something like, “Wow! Larry coached my basketball team in high school.” or, “I was good friends with(insert Shurtliff sibling of your choice)!” My Grandpa had alzheimer's disease while I knew him, but his children wrote a book of memories for him and now I can get to know my Grandpa better through those stories. Another example is of my Great-Great-Grandfather who came to america from holland by himself as a twelve year old boy.

History can help give us a sense of who we are. It can unify us as a city, a state, a country, a family, or any group. Learning about our history can inspire and influence us. It can build us up and help us Identify who we are and who we can become.Confucius said,“Study the past if you would define the future.”  We learn about great conquerors like the romans, or pioneers in science like Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla. People like this can inspire us, or even teach us.We use our own history to learn from our mistakes, which helps us grow and learn. Sir Winston Churchill said,”Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

From history we can learn about success and failure. The winners and the losers. This works, but this doesn't.  There really isn’t any now, only the past. Now is History. I think Milan Kundera said it best when he said, “People are always shouting they want to create a better future. It's not true. The future is an apathetic void of no

interest to anyone. The past is full of life, eager to irritate us, provoke and insult us, tempt us to destroy or repaint it. The only reason people want to be masters of the future is to change the past.” 

The temperature of the arctic circle has risen since 1980. Using that knowledge, scientists predict that the temperature should rise three more degrees by 2050. We can use history similarly to fix problems, such as world hunger, or unemployment.

We can predict outcomes of recent problems by using historic solutions. In the Air Force, pilots take history lessons and battle strategies. In basketball the players watch tapes of previous games and correct their mistakes. When we do science experiments, we can use history. History can be handed down through songs and ballads, stories and plays.

History is full of conflict. World War One, World War Two, The civil war, The war of 1812, The Cold war. History can show how conflict was resolved or how it consumed. Conflict is the reason we have stories and histories.  Without conflict there.

Would be no point in writing down history.

History is important because it applies to us. Today. It will apply to us tomorrow. It will apply to our children, their children, and their great grand children.

I love history, because it is constant. The United States of America will always have landed on the moon first. It cannot be changed. That is why History is important.