Who do you look up to?

JFK was not a perfect man. But I know of no other person who could mobilize a nation, indeed a world, with such impassioned feelings of patriotism and strength.

When I get nervous about an exam or interview or whatever trivial thing, I remember a man who calmly navigated the turbulent waters of the Cold War without giving in to primal instincts of fear or anger. A man who even in great crisis knew that “we should not let our fears hold us from pursuing our hopes.”

When I’m baffled by seemingly complex problems, I remember a man who dared to launch us in the Space Age “not because it is easy, but because it is hard”

When I am trying to understand someone’s viewpoint who I simply don’t agree with, I see a man who under no circumstance let his ideology constrain his empathy. A man who reminded us to never “enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

Maybe JFK was flawed, but to me, there’s still a lot to look up to.

— Rishub Nahar