Ben Jacobson works at the U.S. Department of Defense. The below comments were obtained shortly after the completion of his undergraduate degree. 

“History is always changing. New facts are being discovered, new interpretations and theories being posited, and there is always – always – more to read about and learn. That perpetual search for information, and the amazing new worlds it opens up, was what initially attracted me to history. As I became more experienced and was exposed to the analytical side of history (compiling vast amounts of data, picking out what is most relevant, and coming to a conclusion), I was even more drawn in. The past may be immutable, but history is always being updated and adapted to the realities of the present--and I wanted to be a part of that process.Just like academia, work at the Department of Defense relies on in-depth analyses of constant streams of new information. In fact, the only real difference between history and contemporary events is that we ourselves are a part of the latter. The DoD, and the government in general, values people with a background in history for exactly these reasons. My B.A. in History from Illinois is more than just a degree: it prepared me for this job, and was instrumental helping me land it in the first place.”