GRAND RAPIDS — Imagine doing a huge research project, writing 10 minutes worth of material, honing that material over the course of a year and then presenting it to a panel of judges many times.
Adam Jacobson, who is going into his senior year at Grand Rapids High School, has been doing just that. He worked his way up from the local level to earn a place at the 2025 National History Day competition, which was June 8-12 at the University of Maryland.
This year's theme was Rights and Responsibilities.
"When I heard that, I thought, 'I want to do something about labor unions,'" Jacobson said in a recent conversation on the KAXE Morning Show, explaining that his dad has been in a union for a long time, and he has seen the importance of them.
As he was researching, he learned that Theodore Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to become involved with a union, during the Coal Strike of 1902. Jacobson said this was a shift from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era.
"Theodore Roosevelt was actually the shift from that one era to the next by stepping in and directly involving the government to make sure the workers had fair rights," Jacobson said.
He competed in the Senior Individual Performance category. Jacobson wrote a 10-minute script and performed all the characters in front of a panel of judges. He did this three times before advancing to the national level. Each time, he would get a list of suggested changes, so his script would change every time he performed it.
"I kind of worked on it all year round because it was a lot of work to try and memorize new parts while forgetting the old parts, while also keeping some of the old parts," Jacobson said. "It was really cool to be able to change my project over time, and by all my judges and stuff always gave me really great feedback, so I was able to add that in."
After each performance, judges would ask questions in addition to offering suggestions.
"Questions like 'What was the coolest thing you found out? What was your favorite source?' Questions like that, where you really have to know your stuff. Otherwise, they're not going to take you far."
Jacobson received 10th place in his category, out of over 100 students from around the United States and the world. There were over 3,000 students participating in all categories, which included group projects, papers and presentations.
After high school, Jacobson plans to leave history in the past and become a doctor, just like his mom.
"I hope I can go to school and be half as great as she is one day," he said.
Listen to our full conversation above.
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