Honoring Excellence
Meet our outstanding history camp graduates!
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the outstanding students who participated in the TCR History Camp during the 2023-2024 season. Our mission is to create an environment where history enthusiasts can hone their research and nonfiction expository writing skills, pushing beyond the expectations of their secondary school.
We understand that many of our campers aim to publish their work in The Concord Review, but we also recognize how much competition there is. With only space for eleven papers in each issue, not all Camp participants will reach this milestone. However, we believe the dedication and hard work you demonstrated during Camp deserves recognition on its own. That’s why we’re taking this opportunity to celebrate those who made the most of the program.
We reached out to students who came prepared and made the most of the Camp’s intensive two-week program, laying a solid foundation for their future nonfiction writing projects. We are proud to recognize their commitment to history, and we hope this space serves as a lasting reminder of their achievement.
We wish all of our participants the best in their ongoing history research and other academic endeavors and look forward to celebrating many more successes in the future.
From Ximeng W. (Simon. W)
The TCR Concord Review History Camp is a patient mentor that guided me to think and write as a historian. Through the camp, I learned not only skills in historical writing, but also about the significance and distinct nature of history as a discipline.
At first, I did not expect myself to major in history, but in economics. After studying economics thoroughly during the whole 10th grade, I soon realized that I was not able to fully understand how the world works without diving deep into history. Among all the subjects, only history can provide me with a lens that could illustrate the ever-changing nature of all human experience. Everything around me must have its own past, and history could explain the story behind, assisting me in finding the significance under the surface. Amazed by the significance of studies in history, I decided to switch my intended major to history.
The TCR Concord Review History Camp offered me a precious opportunity to fully immerse myself in history through lectures, 1 on 1 conferences, and discussions. Unlike standardized courses in school, the TCR Camp allows me to explore aviation history, the topic in history that I am most interested in. My research focused on the development of Airbus in the Cold War era. Although it is not the most widely studied field in history, the TCR Camp coaches, especially Mr. Burell, guided me to engage with sources of all kinds, including magazines, government reports, and research essays, etc. By analyzing the complex relationships between the Western countries in the background of the 1970s, I came to the conclusion that Airbus rose by using ingenious tactics, technological advantages, and government subsidies to increase Airbus’ prevalence in the aviation market and obtained up to nearly half of the market share with Boeing. This project studies how Airbus’s rise shaped the global aviation industry and provides historical insights on competition, globalization, and policy of the industry today.
During the research process, TCR coaches patiently supervised my essay and offered detailed suggestions for my arguments and writing. When I was analyzing the rise of Airbus, I particularly remembered a question that Mr. Burell asked me: What is the purpose of including these arguments and information? Whenever I’m confused, this question inspires me to perceive my essay through the lens of a reader, so I can convey my arguments more effectively. The Camp coaches also helped me improve my writing, whether it is a logical mistake, awkward phrasing, or distorted structure.
At the beginning of the camp, I questioned the significance of history; by the end, I seemed to understand its true meaning: history is a teacher that patiently teaches humanity, even if humanity can not stop repeating its mistakes, history offers us the lessons again and again.
Just like an airliner relies on its wings to ascend for its next journey, the TCR Concord Review History Camp gave me the wings I needed to take flight—lifting me into the skies of historical inquiry, and toward a future I hadn’t imagined when I first stepped in.
2025 Winter Weekend Camp
Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School, SH
From Madeleine W.
My ten days with the TCR History Camp helped me transition from an amateur history enthusiast to a mature student of history. I became familiar with different types of sources and how to use them; I also learned that historical writing can be a genre of its own, depending on how you craft it. From the first day, our lectures were packed with invaluable tips and drills in research skills and historical thinking. Though I had experience in analyzing content, it was my first time thinking about history as a writer.
Though everything was done online, it felt just as stimulating as a classroom environment: my teachers, Mr. Burell and Ms. O’Connell, and classmates were never short of enthusiasm. Each of them brought valuable and at times very different perspectives, which stimulated really interesting conversations. In the one-to-one sessions, I worked with my teacher to hone my research question, thesis and organisation skills. On the last day, I left the camp with much clarity regarding what my research would be. It was truly a fun and meaningful time spent on doing what I enjoy
2024 Winter Weekend Camp
From Jessica W.
I came into the TCR camp with a rough idea and left with a paper I never thought I would have been able to write.
My interest in history began when I was examining the old charters and treaties in history class-it was interesting to interpret the different ways legal language altered the course of our history. This curiosity led me to my research topic- the Nuremberg Trials. I wanted to research how those post WWII trials sentenced some of the most egregious committers of crimes in Nazi Germany and how those trials continue to shape how the world prosecutes crimes against humanity. I wanted to go deeper into this research, so I was fortunate enough to stumble across the TCR History camp.
The skills that the TCR camp equipped me with were invaluable. Their guidance helped me improve on substance- one of the most transformative parts of my experience was the one-on-one conferences with TCR instructors. I was fortunate enough to work with experts who helped me advance my research topic beyond what I originally envisioned. They introduced me to events pre-Nuremberg trials so that I would be able to provide adequate context to provide a holistic analysis on international law. What sets TCR apart is that they manage to tailor their feedback to each specific student, making sure to help them fill in gaps of their own story while nurturing their unique voices.
The TCR also re-shaped how I view writing overall. Previously, I had the habit of just writing as much as I can to meet the word count set by my teachers. My instructors instead, taught me that every single word in a history paper has meaning. They pushed me to write with precision, ensuring that each argument was well-supported, and every source served a purpose. What I thought would be a struggle of writing a paper near 9000 words that I would have to fill with a lot of fluff to meet, turned into an exercise in precision, focusing on both quality and quantity.
The guidance of the TCR camp not only enriched my understanding of history research, but it also helped me find my own unique writing style and unique voice. I truly felt myself shift from a high schooler to a historian, which I would forever be grateful to the TCR for.
2025 Winter Weekend Camp
From Rohan A.
TCR History Camp was invaluable in my research journey. The classes really gave me a solid grounding in advanced research
techniques. Our afternoons in the Boston Public Library provided me access to primary sources that would have been difficult to find online. But the best part was the one-on-one coaching which provided me specific feedback on my paper and really stretched me. I developed great relationships with TCR History Camp instructors. My fellow campmates were smart, fun, and highly motivated. We had such a good time discussing our topics and exploring Boston together. The camp really provided me with the confidence to continue on a research quest that would culminate in a 9,000 word paper.
2024 TCR In-Person History Camp, Boston MA
From Rose D.
My interest in history began when I learned about the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, and homesteaders in my elementary school history class. My mother, a history enthusiast with Mandan Indian heritage, pointed out a glaring omission: there was no Indigenous perspective or information included. I soon realized history is not merely a chronicle of the past nor a collection of facts and dates. What's left out of history books is important, and this gets at what I find most captivating about history—its dynamic nature.
History is my favorite subject, mainly because to truly understand the intellectual discipline, we must often reinterpret how it’s been written. It’s something to be challenged and investigated. My interest continued to grow through my AP History classes. I also sought opportunities to deepen my knowledge outside of school. During the summer after sophomore year, I interned for a professor of history from the University of North Dakota. She’d recently discovered new federal records from field nurses in the Dakotas, dating back to when the US government implemented rules and medical reforms over the tribes in the late 1800s and early 1900s. My responsibilities included organizing these records, which gave me a closer look at primary historical documents and their nuances.
Wanting to learn more about developing a research topic and writing publication-worthy essays, I submitted an application to the Concord Review History Camp in Boston last summer and was accepted. There I learned how to formulate further research questions such as "what medical advice and practices were being introduced to Indigenous populations?", find supplemental primary and secondary sources, examine model historical essays for various analytical and narrative writing strategies and give and receive constructive feedback on problems of structure and organization.
While there, I furthered my research on federal policies and practices on American Indian assimilation in newly established tribal reservations. This experience was instrumental in influencing my academic and career aspirations. I want to uncover untold stories in history and tell them through film. I am eager to contribute to and benefit from the academic History community while I work toward preserving and sharing stories.
Henry M. Gunn High School, CA
(2024 TCR History Camp @ Boston)
From Helena Z.
While looking for opportunities to pursue my aspirations and further my knowledge as a student of history, I discovered the TCR History Camp. The experience profoundly changed my approach to researching and writing as a young historian, as it not only encouraged me to think more critically and argumentatively but also equipped me with the skills to articulate my thinking in an effective and eloquent manner.
A key insight that I gained from my experience at the TCR History Camp was the importance of conducting thorough research. Before coming to the camp, I conducted some preliminary research by compiling a list of topics that intrigued me and gathering some sources for each. Through 1:1 conferences with the instructors, I was able to narrow down on a topic and develop a compelling argument for a subject I was passionate about: the Black Friday gold panic (1869). The instructors, who were very experienced and knowledgeable, gave careful consideration to each student’s areas of interests and research progress, providing us with very personalized feedback.
Another crucial takeaway that I gained from the camp was the significance of seeking out and engaging with the arguments of other historians. The program taught me how to address historiography and incorporate it into my writing, enabling me to construct arguments with greater nuance. Even for topics with limited historiographical sources, such as my own, the instructors supported students throughout the process of navigating historiography and introduced various source-finding strategies. The TCR History Camp program has equipped me with invaluable skills that have greatly transformed my approach to writing and historical analysis.
Horace Mann School, NY
(2024 TCR History Camp @ Hotchkiss)
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution.”
— Aristotle