Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, born in Virginia, is one of my favorite Civil War characters. His parents died when he was young, leaving him and his sister in the care of an uncle. He spent his youth working in his uncle's mill and through his influence secured an appointment at West Point. Jackson had difficulty in school; he was shy and awkward and, because of his rural upbringing, started at the bottom of his class, having to compete against boys like George McClellan and other Ivy Leaguers. He improved his grades and began to outperform less motivated classmates like George Pickett. He kept a book of motivational sayings that he collected, one of his favorites being “You can be whatever you decide to be.” He graduated in the top three of his class; some said that if he had had another year he would have reached his peak. After graduation, he taught physics and mathematics at VMI, a military academy in Lexington, Virginia, but was not a very good teacher. He memorized lesson plans and recited them by heart in class; if someone interrupted to ask a question, he would start again from the beginning and repeat the lesson. Needless to say, he was an uninspiring teacher. One thing he was good at was teaching gunnery, a skill that would serve him well in the future. Things weren't easy for him. He lacked the basic skills that most teachers took for granted, but he was serious and worked to overcome his limitations. He also lacked social skills; students made fun of his hypochondria and quirks such as holding one arm over the other, believing it had therapeutic value. Ultimately, he found comfort in the belief that God would provide all he needed in this world and that eternal life would await him in the next if he followed His... middle of paper... w New Year's Eve, but for align with the federal holiday, they combined King's Day with the existing Lee-Jackson holiday, until 2000, when Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore proposed splitting Lee-Jackson-King Day into two separate holidays after a "debate" arose ” on whether or not to split the Lee-Jackson-King day. the nature of the holiday, which simultaneously celebrated the life of Confederate generals and a civil rights icon, was incongruous; as a result, the two holidays are now celebrated separately, but equally, as Lee–Jackson Day and Martin Luther King day. Phew!, I'm glad they fixed the problem. If they couldn't reconcile Lee, Jackson and King, then how do they expect us to get along and move forward? Speaking of holidays, why doesn't Lincoln consider it a national holiday instead of confronting Washington on President's Day? Aside from Washington, who could be more important to this country than Lincoln? ?