<p>I’m the captain of a JROTC academic team that got 5th place internationally a few days ago at a competition. I’m pretty happy about that, but there’s something I’m infinitely happier about - when shaking hands with a 3-star general, he recognized my name because while walking around/chillin (somehow that word sounds wrong when describing a man of his rank) in the halls, he’d overheard things about me.</p>
<p>We had a tiny little conversation, that went like this (I’m not forgetting this for the rest of my life:</p>
<p>Me: Good evening, sir. I’m Cadet Captain <em>my name</em> from <em>school name</em>
MG: Oh, I’ve heard about you!
Me: o.O …really?
MG: Yes, the other teams were warning each other about <em>school name</em>'s team captain.
Me: Haha wow, I hope they were saying good things!
MG: They say that you’re a math whiz.
Me: I’m fair at the subject, sir.
MG: I’d think so!
Me: <em>more laughing</em> it was very nice meeting you, sir.</p>
<p>(Couldn’t think of anything clever to say. I was totally freaking out inside and smiling like a loon and trying not to forget to say “sir” xD)</p>
<p>Would writing about this be a good essay topic? That little conversation had a really big effect on me - it basically just showed me the huge value of a strong education. Cliche, yes, but sometimes we just go through life clamoring for that perfect GPA without thinking about what good it’d actually do for us, practically.</p>
<p>Haha. Yeah. You should spend the first three-quarters of your essay building up to this conversation, glorifying the general, his accomplishments, and your nervousness. And then end the essay quickly and underwhelmingly (sic) with some wit at the end.</p>
<p>I think that using a specific incident like this definitely guarantees focus in your essay, which is very important. I like idk11’s suggestion for the format.</p>
<p>The starry-eyed importance that you are attaching to that exceedingly brief conversation makes me wonder whether you are more impressed with credentials and rank than with an actual person, achievement, argument, or even the respect of your peers.</p>
<p>It didn’t matter what his rank was to me - I attached that here for more information. And as a JROTC cadet, I am extremely appreciative of all that Major General Bartell has done for us. It was amazing to see this man, who we are tested on each year in our classes, in person and have him in my mind as a human being and not as an inky name on paper.</p>
<p>I guess what I was trying to stress here was that I felt really happy that a stranger had heard my name, and I was worth being warned about to other teams. And that you must always strive to be at your best because you never know who might find out about you and the things you’ve done.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I came off as arrogant. It was my fault I didn’t phrase my intentions with the essay carefully.</p>