[Ohiogift] Asian Kids

[Will Fitzhugh]

24 February 2021

Dear Mr Fitzhugh,

We are Elanna Mak (Grade 11) and Annalise Mak (Grade 9), two students in Hong Kong International School. We first learned about The Concord Review when our mother subscribed to it and showed us copies of the print editions when we were much younger. A keen amateur historian, she has always inculcated a love of history in our household. She taught us that all countries and regions are intertwined in a grand web of cultural, economic, scientific, political and historical interactions. To be good neighbors, we have to learn about our neighbors from all the different parts of the world.

We are now both in High School and still love learning History. Elanna submitted a paper to The Concord Review in August 2020 (no news yet but one lives in hope!) Annalise has enrolled in the TCR Summer Camp 2021 (very excited!) Elanna has been campaigning in our school for more students to take up AP History subjects. If there aren’t enough takers, the school doesn’t run the classes. For example, AP European History has not run for the last two years. Many students tell her that they are terrified of how difficult they find writing History essays—even though these are top students who aced their freshman and sophomore Humanities classes! It boggles the mind that they think nothing of taking AP Calculus BC, AP Biology or AP Physics C, but are afraid of taking AP US History, AP European History and AP World History. 

There is a clear need to change the tenor of the conversation among these young people. We ourselves are both students who are taking hard Math and Science subjects. Nonetheless, we passionately believe that studying History is imperative for young people in order for them to develop into wise, open-minded thinkers and leaders! When our generation’s leaders are ignorant of what happened in the near and distant past, they may repeat the terrible mistakes of that past and not even know it. 

We are thinking of starting a History Club initiative here in Hong Kong: starting with our own school, and then reaching out to other international and local schools. When we were researching this idea, we read an article where you mentioned that young people should start History Clubs. Do you have any advice to give two keen young History buffs who are embarking on this endeavor?

We both have substantial experience starting charity initiatives and using videography and social media to get publicity. However, we are slightly daunted by this task and need to have the courage to follow our convictions. Our main concerns are: 

How to get students to see that studying History is just as valuable as studying Math and Sciences.
How to get school faculty to actively support a History Club with their teaching activities.
Getting funding and support for history-related activities throughout the school.
Getting students excited about doing meaningful historical research and writing history papers. 
Getting students excited about submitting their history papers for prizes and publications.

Please forgive us for taking up your time with our queries. Here in Hong Kong, we don’t know anyone in our sphere of acquaintances who have been championing the idea of History Clubs. We do know that you have been such a champion in the United States for a long time. We really would appreciate any wise insights you can share with us about good steps to take and mistakes to avoid.

With kindest regards.

Yours sincerely,

Elanna and Annalise Mak


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