The General by Spencer

The General by Spencer - October 2017 Scholarship Essay

As a young adult in college, I've gone on a fair share of dates and to keep things interesting, somehow this question has come up quite frequently, so I've been able to do a lot of thinking and have come up with a very solid answer.

George Washington.

George Washington was one of our founding fathers, a leader in the Revolutionary War, the first president of this country, and an amazing example to look up to. In history books all over the country, we have heard about how great George Washington was and about all of the great things that he did for this country and for his fellow man, but what about the things he did to help cope with the craziness of all of his responsibilities?

As humans, we deal with negative feelings and emotions all of the time, such as stress, anxiety, or having too much on our plate (as a college student, I am very familiar with them), but sometimes, we all don't have the best coping methods. I can only imagine the amount of stress that Washington would've had to deal with with the fate of a nation, and thousands and thousands of lives, resting in his hands. He must've been able to do something to help him cope with that stress, or even to relax for that matter. Being able to relax in the middle of a war with thousands of lives and a nation resting in your hands is next to impossible in my mind, but George Washington was able to do it.

Being in such high of a position as George Washington was, I can only imagine the amount of stories he'd have of where an important battle/event was about to happen, but he would still be able to smile and relax before it. Smiling in the face of death shows me what kind of a man George Washington was and getting to hear those stories from his own mouth would inspire me till the end of time. This is why I would want to have dinner with The General.