Miles Abernethy entered Virginia Tech in the fall of 2019 as a Landscape Architecture major. However, he quickly changed his mind to a history degree within the first week of classes. "I couldn't deny my passion for history and knew that I could make a career out of it," explains Miles. 

Now, Miles is in his second semester of the History Department's graduate program. His trajectory from undergraduate to graduate student within our department has been an eventful one full of exciting opportunities. We talked with Miles to learn more about his experiences -- read on for the full Q&A! 

Tell me a little about yourself and what led you to major in history when you were in undergrad. 

I'm a huge fan of college football (Go Hokies!), I pick-up lacrosse, and love going to Scottish festivals. My parents have most of the credit for turning me on history and Virginia Tech. They met through their love of history and ever since I was little, they took me to historic sites across my home state of North Carolina. That passion rubbed off on me!

As for Virginia Tech -- it's in the family. My dad is a 1990 graduate and my sister graduated in 2016. I'd been on campus so many times before that it felt weird to apply to other schools even though I knew VT was in my heart.

Miles lore: I actually got accepted to VT undergrad as a Landscape Architecture major! I loved history all my life, but thought that might be more marketable. Long story short, I switched to history classes within the first week. I couldn't deny my passion for history and knew that I could make a career out of it if I really wanted to.

I wasn't aware at the time, but it was probably the best decision I've ever made. My interest in Civil War history plugged right into our Civil War center and our awesome faculty made the undergraduate experience fantastic.

You earned your bachelor's degree from the history department here at Virginia Tech and now you're in our graduate program. Tell me what that trajectory has been like for you.

Continuing my studies in history from undergrad to the master's level has been a great experience and has real advantages. The best part is that I know almost all the faculty already, and that makes it easier to cultivate personal and professional relationships.  It also means I'm already connected with the Hokie community, as staying here has allowed me to continue serving as an Ambassador for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences to share my experiences with potential students at our Open House and other events. Probably the most "full circle" moment is being a Teaching Assistant for the American Civil War class that I took as a freshman in Spring 2020!

This is your first year in the master's program – what has the experience been like so far? 

Graduate studies have both met my expectations and surprised me. I knew that the quality and amount of writing was going to be a challenge in addition to the amount of reading. However, that part of the history master's is something that is taught: you are instructed how to strategically read and write so that your ideas are clear and concise.

The biggest difference from undergrad is that the amount of "homework" varies from class to class. Some classes do have a lot of writing associated with it, but others require an in-depth understanding of the reading -- your "work" is what you are able to glean from the literature in your class discussions.

Tell me about some of the professional development experiences you've had through the history department so far and what you took away from those experiences.

We have a lot of great professional development resources through the department, especially in terms of public history. Dr. Taylor and Dr. Winling have been a great asset to bounce ideas off of about potential careers.

The biggest impact was a couple of public history workshops I went to in my junior and senior years. In these, we discussed careers, internships, resumes and CVs, and even met with alums that spoke about their experiences. All this advice resulted in my conducting two National Park Service internships in 2023-24.

The first was a traditional summer internship with Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park and the second was a "winternship" that I organized with Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. Both of these experiences inspired me to apply for an official Park Guide position for Summer 2024 -- fingers crossed as I would get to wear the ranger hat!

You won the Curtis Award at the history department's annual spring tea your senior year. Tell me how that prize impacted you.

Winning the Curtis Prize was one of the highlights of my time at Virginia Tech. I had a lot to celebrate in that spring 2023 semester -- I won the Curtis Prize, published one of my papers in the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review, secured a National Park Service internship, and I presented the Curtis Prize project at the 2023 Bertoti Conference. Winning the prize really confirmed that my writing in Civil War history was getting noticed and that I had something to contribute to the field as an incoming graduate student.

How have faculty supported you in your time here and how has that impacted your experience? 

When I talk about the History Department at Open House events as an Ambassador for CLAHS, I always say how every faculty member truly takes a vested interest in your personal academic and professional success. I have so many faculty to thank for writing letters of recommendation, for being role models, and for being interested in my historical interests. The faculty have made me a better historian: every comment, correction, and question on my assignments hones me into a better writer and critical thinker.

I also want to shout out the staff at Special Collections & University Archives. It'll be my third year working for them and they have increased my knowledge and confidence as an archivist, as well as helping me pursue my interests. Without all the faculty's help, I would not be where I am today!

What advice would you give to students entering the history M.A. program next fall?

Be ready and willing to learn. Most of my cohort would agree that we saw ourselves as straight "A" perfectionists in undergrad and that we were the "big fish" in our respective ponds. In this M.A. program, you will be challenged to do more than you have -- but that is totally normal. You'll learn new ways to read, write, and think about history. You'll have to drop the perfectionist mantra and be willing to make mistakes. This is what makes us better historians by learning from these mistakes and going forward.

I would also say that you should find time in your first semester to explore research interests. Finding literature and even sources on these in your (relatively) quieter first semester will pay dividends and you can hit the ground running in your second semester when developing research plans and goals.

What do you hope to do with your degree once you complete the master's program next spring?

I haven't totally ruled out a Ph.D. program but would aim for one that cultivated my interest in public history. Otherwise, I'm aiming to begin working in the National Park Service this summer as a Park Guide, and hopefully in the future get a permanent position as a Park Ranger at a Civil War battlefield. Alhough with the American 250th approaching, a Revolutionary War site might be appealing as well!

What show are you binging right now? 

Usually I'm watching my "comfort show" of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but there's some exciting shows coming up that I want to watch. Right now, I'm watching Masters of the Air from the same group that made Band of Brothers about pilots and crew in the 100th Bomb Group during World War II. Coming up later this month is Shogun on FX about William Adams, the first Englishman in Sengoku Japan and based on the James Clavell novel of the same name. A live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is coming out soon which I hope will be good, and I just saw a new show coming out called Manhunt about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the days after the Lincoln assassination. Hopefully, I can fit personal reading into my schedule, but a book I'm looking forward to is The Army Under Fire: The Politics of Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era by Cecily Zander from LSU Press.