Peter Collins
Position: Graduate Assistant for Florida International University’s Football Team
Field: Athletics
Graduated: 2007
I really enjoyed my experience in the American Studies program because it was both challenging and interesting on many levels. When people have asked me what an American Studies degree was, my response has always been “its like a history degree and Poli-Sci degree combined but totally different.” It’s history without the dates. It’s the “why” not the “when” of American History and politics. It’s the degree where you look at all the peripheral aspects of history and how they actually caused/affected the bigger historical moments in time. As I said, I really liked the program then, and now, and what it has brought to my knowledge. Also, I had some pretty darn good professors that shared these lessons enthusiastically.
I may not have pursued a career specifically involving American Studies, but I still use the lessons the department taught me. I am currently a Graduate Assistant for the Football team at Florida International University down in Miami, FL. I would like to be a College or Pro Football coach and this is just a step in the process to achieving that. That being said, I am still an avid American history buff and still talk to people that were in the program with me on a weekly basis (had 3 of us at my wedding this summer!).
