Knowledge from Insight and Insight from Ignorance by Ahaj

Knowledge from Insight and Insight from Ignorance by Ahaj - October 2017 Scholarship Essay

Life is a mess. It’s a string of constant battles between passions and responsibilities. An ever-shifting battleground of ideologies and political expression. None knew this better than Thomas Jefferson. Arguably, more important than the Father of our Nation, George Washington, Jefferson strived to make intellectual ground while Washington marched on the British. However, more important than all that, he was a human being. He had his faults. He had his skirmishes with the law. He made mistakes, but like any good revolutionary intellectual, he learned from those mistakes, and like the great teacher he was, he taught us to learn from his mistakes.

Thomas Jefferson’s greatest triumph of penning the Declaration of Independence marked him as a man whom history will not forget. What many forget is that Jefferson wrote the document from start to finish in 17 days to present to the Continental Congress. 17 days to draft one of the most important documents in modern history. 17 days to make a stand to an unfazed British Empire. 17 days to shape the rest of human history. In his mind, Jefferson holds the key to any great thinker, he knows how to focus on his work. The very nature of the document was such that he not only had to persuade Congress of its effectiveness but the rest of the world as well. To work under pressure is a skill that not many possess, and of those, only a handful can match Jefferson. Talking to him, figuring out how his brain solves problems would be an experience that I would not quickly forget.

Jefferson, for all his fanciful ideologies, taught us that theory is different from practice. Jefferson constantly strived to improve the relations of people in the United States with their foreign allies. Given his intense dedication to this, some even believed Jefferson was more beloved to the French than he was to his American brethren. However, there was one area in which he fell short. Jefferson, for all his verbose language and powerful rhetoric of the unity of all peoples, failed to make any significant strides towards the end of Slavery during his tenure as President. Though some historians believe that Jefferson wished to make some advances in the treatment of the slaves, most agree that the political pressure got to him and that he succumbed to those external forces, shattering his once steadfast ideology. We all have something to learn there. Every moment of our lives is a constant battle of what is right and what is easy. Jefferson is not a lesser man for failing to hold through to his beliefs, it just makes him mortal. To talk to someone who had to live with this internal struggle between “all men are created equal” and the disparity that existed in his very home would be very enlightening. There is little to learn from someone who has gone through life the easy way. Those who have been forged in crucible and fire, have seen the world for what it truly is, and the value of that knowledge is immeasurable.

Jefferson embodies all of the qualities that I see in myself, as well as some of my own faults. From being a tireless explorer and ambassador of the truth to the mistakes he made whether out of fear or out of his willingness to take chances, shaped America into the Nation it is today. I hope that by having dinner with him, I can learn enough that I will be able to create a lasting impact on the world too.