Why History?

Alright, time to get started...

After considering my options over this past week, I thought I'd dedicate my blog to highlighting my interest in history and my hobby of doing Military Living History/Re-enacting.

My fascination with history goes back to my childhood and is thanks in large part to the TV series Reading Rainbow with Levar Burton.  I could and did literally spend hours watching that show (contrary to popular belief, TV can be good for your brain...you just need to choose the right shows to watch!)  and aside from a love of reading, it piqued my interest and exposed me to a wide range of subjects and by the time I was in school; I had already studied ancient Egypt, medieval knights, and the Titanic amongst other things.



 As I got older, I came to understand just what it was about history which captivated me and I think it has to do with simple the fact that so much about our world and ourselves can be gleaned by studying it.  When people think "history" it conjures up thoughts about the past, and images of places far away persons long dead.  Others may see "history" as something of little relevance to them or to the present, being that history is so often presented as being so grand in scale and happenstance that it seems to have little bearing on our immediate lives and circumstances.  In short, people may simply say "History is boring, and why should I care?  What does it have to do with me?"  Well, I say its has everything to do with you because it is people who make history and ultimately, the study of history is the study of human nature; being that history has, is, and will always be made by the actions of people.  While we may know the how, history tells us the why and it is by this same token that my hobby of historical re-enacting comes in.

My interest in doing re-enacting goes back to when I was in the Boy Scouts.  I remember reading an article in Boys Life about Civil War re-enactments and was immediately taken with the thought of what it must be like to experience an event like that where you are literally taken back in time and are immersed in those events and places.  This is where the "living" in Living History comes from, in that you are not just playing a bit part, but rather you seek to become the part in its entirety and as such you become privy to a wealth of knowledge and experience which can only be obatained and appreciated from doing it for real.

 



More on this later...

This Is A Blog...

Greetings Internet,

My name is Lance I. Teruya, age 25.  I was born and raised here in the 50^th state of Hawaii and am of Japanese-Okinawan descent.  My current “occupation” is that of student at Kapiolani Community College.

The impetus behind the creation of this blog is one of my classes at KCC, Communication 201.  As part of our curriculum in COM 201, each one of us students is partaking in maintaining a personal blog for the duration of the spring semester.  The purpose of our blogs is to allow us to explore and partake in the communication realm of the internet.

I must admit that if it wasn’t for this class activity, I myself would have very little, if any, interest in blogging at all.  I was never someone who got into fads in a big way and being that I value personal discretion, dignity, and privacy very highly; I never imagined myself getting involved in socializing in the digital world, at least not in a big way.  Furthermore, I cannot help but feel that with all the blogs, vlogs, and viral videos already out there on the web that the world doesn’t really need one more person to add to an already crowded and at times obnoxious online social mix.

All this being said however, there certainly can’t be too much harm in dabbling in a blog, at least for a little while.  I’m still not certain in just what direction to take this assignment, so for the moment I ask that you; whomever you potential viewers may be, to please bear with me while I figure this all out. 

Anyway, let’s give this a go and see where it takes us!