My name is Rachel and I am a self taught and self proclaimed passionate medievalist from San Francisco, California. As of 2025, I am 22 years old and am currently in my senior year of university at The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) studying Human Biology and Society. Other than medieval history, I am passionate about the history of science, especially infectious disease and public health and the intersections between science and humanities. My dream is to attend medical school and work in primary care to further explore my passion for interdisciplinary studies and apply the intersection between history and science to healthcare. My hobby has come in handy many times at the hospital while volunteering as it provides me with a wealth of interesting facts to share!

My Story With Medievalism:

I have always been interested in history, but I first became interested in medieval English history when I was around six or seven years old. My parents bought me a book about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and I was instantly fascinated by the dazzling descriptions of knights in shining armor, valiant warrior kings and resilient princesses. 

After reading about the story of King Arthur for the first time, I began to become passionate about all things medieval: I dressed as Queen Elizabeth I for Halloween in second grade, I bought countless versions of the story of King Arthur, I read all the books about castles and knights that I could get my hands on, and I even begged my parents to take me to a reenactment of a jousting tournament in Las Vegas. To me, King Arthur was the embodiment of heroism. I was infatuated with the idea that he could come back when England, and, consequently, when I, needed him the most. Unfortunately, my belief that King Arthur had existed and saved England from anarchy was brutally dashed when my parents informed me that the story of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table was fictional and they would not be rising again in my time of need. I was, understandably, crushed. My childhood hero was a farce. The valiant King Arthur was merely a figment of a monk in England's imagination.