A pair of Early College at Guilford students — and self-proclaimed history buffs — made a bit of history themselves this month when they interviewed renowned documentary filmmaker Ken Burns in Raleigh.

How Abby Mocharnuk and Nishitha Daniel found themselves onstage with Ken is a story rooted in their deep love of history, sparked by inspiring high school teachers and nurtured through college-level coursework at Guilford College.

Abby and Nishitha interviewed Ken on May 15 during an event celebrating National History Day, where Ken also promoted his upcoming film on the American Revolutionary War. The filmmaker was a Guilford College Bryan Series speaker in 2003 and 2012.

Meeting and speaking with Ken was an unforgettable experience, says Nishitha. “He’s not like an idol, but he’s so impressive, and Abby and I share a love of history with him,” she says. “I was nervous before going on stage, but once we got going, I had my questions lined up — and he took over.”

For history enthusiasts like Nishitha and Abby, interviewing Ken Burns is the equivalent of a baseball fan chatting with Shohei Ohtani. Yet the students remained calm and composed during the conversation, held in Raleigh in front of several hundred fellow history lovers.

Abby credits her confidence to skills gained in a journalism class at Guilford and her experience working for The Guilfordian, the student newspaper. “We did our research and we were ready,” she says. “It was a lot of fun — a little nerve-wracking, but fun in the end.”

Their passion for history began as sophomores in classes taught by ECG history teacher Morris Johnson and English teacher Anne Beatty. When they began taking courses at Guilford as juniors and seniors, they gravitated toward the humanities — including history, journalism, and religion.

As sophomores, Nishitha and Abby entered the National History Day competition, a program modeled after science fairs. Each year, more than half a million middle and high school students analyze primary and secondary sources to develop original arguments on historical topics. They present their findings through papers, documentaries, performances, exhibits, or websites.

The pair spent weeks researching in Hege Library, ultimately creating a website on the Holodomor — the 1932–33 famine that killed about four million Ukrainians due to policies imposed by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

As juniors, they created another website — this time focused on “comfort women,” women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during World War II. Their work earned them a fourth-place national finish.

They opted not to compete this year, as college applications took priority. Nishitha will attend Vanderbilt University in the fall as a pre-med major, while Abby will begin studies at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism.

Both students credit their teachers and professors at ECG and Guilford for fostering their academic growth. “The professors at Guilford have such a passion for their subjects,” says Nishitha. “It’s hard not to become passionate as a student.”