How Being Curious Leads Me Outside The Box by George

How Being Curious Leads Me Outside The Box by George - October 2018 Scholarship Essay

Growing up I was called George of the Jungle, Georgie Porgie, Jorge, and any other variation of the name George imaginable. I was never a huge fan of any of them except one, everyone’s favorite cartoon monkey living with the Man in the Yellow Hat, Curious George. When I was born, my grandmother gifted me a stuffed Curious George that I have with me to this day. But what really draws me to this particular nickname isn’t the cuteness of the monkey, but the relatability of his curiosity.
If I find something interesting, no matter how insignificant that something is, I always try to explore it. Following a small lead is exactly what I did when I unearthed the story of John the Fearless while scrolling down a list of people born on my birthday. How does someone get a name like “the fearless”? I had to know. So I clicked on his link and read up on this fourteenth century French duke. He had a strikingly interesting life, which included publicly assassinating another duke and getting pardoned for it - an event that contributed to the Hundred Years War. He may be very well known to scholars and historians studying that place and time period, but he is completely unknown to the general public. A whole life of good old fashioned conquering and old time politics covered up under the umbrella of a war. His whole story has been reduced to just a name in a textbook somewhere; a footnote in history. But the footnotes, the people and events like John the Fearless throughout time, have always been my favorite parts of the past.
Throughout my life, the mini treasure hunts that my curiosity leads me on have been one of my passions. In my mind, there is nothing that can rival an untold story. Even as a young kid I was never very interested in fairy tales due to their similarity and predictability. Instead of Disney stories, I would indulge in books about the history of baseball or America’s most famous athletes from throughout history. These books allowed me to get authentic and new tales on each page. Stories of people such as Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first African American professional baseball player who played sixty years before the famous Jackie Robinson. Walker had a rather short playing career in pro baseball, but his life was fascinating long after he stepped off the field. After being physically attacked by a group of white men shouting racial slurs at him, Walker fought back and killed one of the men in the process. He claimed that he acted in self defense but was arrested on second degree murder charges. The most interesting part of all was that he was found not guilty by an all white jury. This case took place in the late nineteenth century when such stories were unheard of.
I have always embraced being a curious George, since it has led me to find captivating yet little known historical figures like John the Fearless and Moses Fleetwood Walker. History is full of amazing people, each with their own unique stories just waiting to be discovered, and I love digging up each one.