A couple of weeks ago, everybody’s favorite teen idol, Justin Beiber, paid a visit to Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam while on a European tour.

After a private tour of the house, Justin wrote a little note inside of the visitor’s book that read, “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a Belieber.”

While the fact that the only thing Justin got out of touring Anne Frank’s house was hoping she would have been one of his fans made me shake my head in amazement, I wasn’t very surprised.

What did surprise me was the backlash of Beiber fans that responded with tweets such as, “Who’s Anne Frank lol,” “Who’s Anne Frank and why is Justin visiting her house? Why can’t he come to my house :(“ and “who’s Anne Frank and why is she bullying Justin Beiber.”

I was dumbfounded that such a large portion of America’s teenagers don’t have the slightest clue who Anne Frank is, but then I got to thinking.  As a history major, I have helped many friends study for history classes and while just discussing historical events with friends, I began to realize just how historically ignorant a lot of college students are today.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked questions like, “Oh a history degree, what are you going to do with that,” or “Why don’t you major in something practical and useful?”

These same people always complain about how their history class is stupid or how they can’t believe they have to waste their time in a class learning things they will never use again.

In today’s world of advanced technology and social media, where do the old ways fit in?  Despite what seems to be the popular belief, history still has a place in today’s world.  History is more than a bunch of dates, names and events to memorize.  It is the story of how we got to where we are today.

All of these things we learn in history classes are small little snippets of what makes us human and helps explain why the world is the way it is.  So what makes learning history so important?

First of all, history is still important because it’s so interesting.  Anyone who says that history is boring is a liar and needs to get their facts straight.

For thousands of years, storytelling has been an integral part of human culture all over the world, and what makes a better story than history?  History is full of action, adventure, intrigue, thrills, knights, pirates, ninjas, samurais and spies.

Think of some of the best movies you’ve ever seen. Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Braveheart. None of these movies would have been possible without history.

Knowing history can help with your understanding of current events.  Many of the major social and political conflicts around the world stem from events way earlier in history.

For example, a person without an adequate knowledge might have trouble understanding conflicts like that in the Middle East.  However, if you know your history, then you would know that the different tribes of the Middle East have been fighting for thousands of years, so a lot of what is going on today would make more sense.

One final important reason that history is still relevant is so that we can learn from our past in order to better our future. As cliché as it sounds, history does repeat itself and the better we understand the ways that we have messed up in the past, the better we can prevent making those same mistakes in the future.

In the end, it’s all about respecting the past.  Justin Beiber obviously didn’t respect the memory of Anne Frank, but we don’t all have to be like that.  Just remember, it’s impossible to move forward without remembering where you came from in the first place.