Dinner at Monticello by Kalina

Dinner at Monticello by Kalina - October 2017 Scholarship Essay

Ever since second grade when I had my first President school report, Thomas Jefferson has been my favorite President. I know what you’re thinking, how could a seven year old have a favorite President and more importantly how does this fascination last? There are no real answers to these questions but I can tell you it is possible. I believe that my ties to Thomas Jefferson have lead me to my continuing and growing passion of the love of history, especially the Colonial Era.

The summer after fifth grade, my family and I took a trip back East to the Washington D.C. area. While planning this trip I told my parents we had to go to Monticello, Jefferson's home, William and Mary, University of Virginia, and the Jefferson Memorial. While at these destinations I was like a kid in a candy store, taking it all in and smiling all the way through. Monticello was my absolute favorite part of the entire trip because it was where I felt most at home and allowed me a first hand look at what Jefferson’s life must have been like.

Thomas Jefferson was a highly intelligent individual with a love of knowledge. As a southern aristocrat he attended the University of William and Mary and when he was older, established the University of Virginia. In the time of the American Revolution Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence as well as served as a representative in France and was apart of the convincing that took place to get the colonists French aid. Before being elected as the third President, Jefferson served as Secretary of State under George Washington and Vice President to John Adams.

Having dinner with Thomas Jefferson would be an incredible opportunity for me. He had so many different experiences and was front and center when it came to founding the country we have today. Afterall, he was the one who doubled the size of the nation through the Louisiana Purchase! What a deal! I would love to know what he was thinking when he made that decision. To be able to hear about the political side of his life and ask questions like what was his time in France was like, what made him change his mind from strict interpretation of the Constitution to loose interpretation, what it was like to work with Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, and so many other questions would be unbelievable. It would be incredible to be able to pick his brain about all of these concepts.

I would also ask him personal questions about his life. For instance, how he got Monticello to look two stories when it’s actually three, how it was being away from his family for so long, and did the time change during his lifetime confuse him (during his lifetime the calendar shifted 11 days ahead hence his gravestone saying he was born on April 2 while everything else says April 13).

Having dinner with Thomas Jefferson would allow me further insight into a part of history that I love. One can only gain so much from reading first and second hand documents. It takes someone who lived through it and was there at every step to really tell you about what it was like.