History Major Spotlight: Ryan Alvarez

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am originally from New York, but I was raised in Tampa. My father is a lawyer and my mother used to install telephone systems. She is the techy in the family.

I loved history in high school. It was always the one subject I was good at. Back in elementary school, I once had a substitute teacher in first grade, who decided to tell us about Abraham Lincoln rather than do the regular classwork. He told us how Lincoln got to be president and about his achievements. The substitute told such an engaging story, I remember him – and the story to this day. My grandpa, too, loved history. He loved military history, especially aviation history.

I am planning on becoming a lawyer. When I applied to college, my father told me to pick a major that I was interested in, so that it would be easy to get good grades. So, I chose history.

I originally went to Florida Atlantic University for one year before I transferred to Florida State University. I had had good grades in high school, but I did not know what to expect from university. I got positive feedback in the first history class I took. In a written test, I filled up the whole blue book with my answer, and the instructor wrote: “Excellent job. Glad you are a history major.” That’s when I realized, I can do this.

Covid impacted the end of my first year at FAU, and I also realized I wanted to be at a bigger school. I really liked FSU’s History program, the faculty, and the course offerings. I had a 4.0 GPA which made transferring to FSU easier. Except for the very first semester at FSU, I’ve made president’s list every time. That first semester, I only made it to the dean’s list.

I enjoy that I can take both very broad history courses and very specialized ones. I have enjoyed working with all the instructors I have had so far.

How did you decide on which university to transfer to?

I did a lot of research online. I noted the overall rankings, and then looked at who was listed as faculty. I looked at the faculty pages and saw that a lot of professors had degrees from prestigious institutions and had accomplished a lot. That spoke to me. It held the promise of receiving a great education myself, and, because I had Bright Futures, I wanted to stay in-state. When I visited FSU, I loved the campus too.

What kind of history do you like?

Probably American history. I love history involving the US presidents and the supreme court. It is fascinating to see how intertwined their history is. Beyond US history, I have taken classes on many different time periods, subjects, and areas.  I realized that once you understand the broad processes of change, and you look at the mechanism of how change came about, it becomes easier to understand the impact things from the past have on the world today. When I attend other classes outside of history, I look at the subject matter from a historian’s perspective, and I see the historical depth of a topic.

Taking history classes has helped my writing skills. I am just completing my senior seminar paper, and, with 20 pages, it is the longest paper I have ever written so far. I am in Dr. Mooney’s ‘US Pop Culture’ section and am looking at a 2007 comedy film, ‘Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story,” which is a spoof on music biopics. I investigate how race is portrayed. The film highlights how we mystify the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, as well as giving us an insight into what was acceptable regarding racial depictions in the late 2000s. I have never done research that deep on one specific topic before. The movie is only 90 min long; I bought the deluxe version of the soundtrack and the extended version of the movie and watched all the extra scenes. That must have made it more like 300 min worth of material. Just to get one sentence worth of information, I will have looked at around 100 websites, articles, and film clips. I am definitely an expert on that movie now.

What was transferring to FSU like?

Being a transfer student during Covid wasn’t easy. It took a while to get into the rhythm of zoom classes, but I found my feet by the second semester. Meeting people was initially hard because of Covid. I joined the GroupMe for the History Club, and that helped with finding like-minded people. The History department is not too big, so you will see the same History majors in your classes.  That makes it easy to meet fellow students.

Coming to FSU from Florida Atlantic was definitely a step up academically. I was very impressed by the range of classes we have in the program. I took more upper-level classes at FSU, and I appreciated that they were smaller in size. Professors treated you more as a person and a student rather than as a student who had to be regulated through deadlines. Whenever I had questions about an assignment or needed help, I would go to my professor’s office hours. I always received help and support. For me, office hours have been the most helpful thing in my undergrad career.

I am a History major and a law and political science minor. For me, that is like doing more History. I understand that the institutions we have today in politics, or the law were not the same when the country got its independence. Everything that we have today has a history and has changed over time. History prepared me well for taking the LSAT. In the reading comprehension section, you have to go through a lot of dense texts and pull the relevant information from them. You need to grasp an author’s argument and analyze to see if it contradicts earlier statements. History is definitely a good major for going to law school. You build up your reading and writing skills.

What advice would you give to students who are coming to FSU?

The most important advice I would give an incoming student is to involve yourself in the history community. Do not be afraid to talk to people. When you are in your history class, you can turn to your right or left, and start conversations with people who are just as interested in history as you are. That might seem scary, but it is also a good feeling.

It is also important to talk to your advisor and your teachers. I had never spoken to either before transferring to Florida State. But seeking out their help and advice is really important. Again, it might seem scary, but it has helped me a lot. The university and our department do a great job providing the tools to succeed, but you need to make use of them. There is a lot of support out there on campus. For example, you can go to the library and get help, or you can contact them electronically for support. You just need to reach out.

Last piece of advice: be prepared to work hard if you come to FSU. You have to commit and put in the time, which will mean some long nights in the library to finish off a paper. But you will hone your skills and that is priceless.