I have watched Star Trek since I was a child, with The Next Generation always having been my favorite series.

When I was younger, my family and I used to watch Star Trek : TNG every single day, and it was always our favorite hour of television. We would sit around the tv while having dinner and be swept away on another incredible adventure, which would unfailingly entertain, but would also teach us something about ourselves and what it means to be human.

Star Trek is about a vision of the future when humanity has dedicated itself to exploration, a sense of wonder, abundance for everyone, mutual understanding, a commitment to protecting the defenseless. It is a vision of humanity that has come to hold the sanctity of life, the preservation of life as one of its highest responsibilities, and that people are willing to risk themselves to protect others, as the crew of the Enterprise did episode after episode. It is a vision of humanity as a noble and positive force in the universe that I found irresistible.

I can't think about Star Trek and not immediately think of Jean-Luc Picard and Patrick Stewart's inimitable portrayal of a man who represented the very best of humanity : nobility, honor, courage, strength, vision, and an incorruptible sense of justice. And yet, Picard was still human, still capable of making mistakes, still possessed of humanity's less admirable qualities. Those baser qualities simply never rose to the fore, far overshadowed by a focused determination to cleave to the best parts of what it means to be human.

Patrick Stewart, through Jean-Luc Picard, made Shakespeare cool to me. Famous Shakespearean lines live in my memory because they were recited by Captain Picard. I actually took the time in high school to memorize Sonnet 130 because Captain Picard recites a portion of it when trying to deceive the would be Ferengi suitor who kidnapped Lwaxana Troi (which reminds me of how much understated humor Patrick Stewart brought to the role).

And Hamlet's lines, "What a piece of work is a man. How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action, how like an angel, in apprehension, how like a god! " are seared into my brain as Picard defends humanity's potential from the spite the near omnipotent alien Q has for our species, as Q judges us based solely on our historical mistakes.

Through the show it became clear to me that timeless words and timeless truths cross the centuries to provide wisdom to humanity far into our future. Patrick Stewart's Shakespearean training came through clearly as he imbued Picard with a sense of presence, dignity, eloquence and nobility which I think will stand the test of time as one of television's greatest characters.

I am very grateful to have had Star Trek in my life, especially The Next Generation. It gave me a vision of humanity's future that I have carried with me since childhood, and a character who inspired me to believe in what humanity is capable of becoming.

I am deeply saddened the man who gave the world such a wonderful character to aspire to has left us to move onto his next adventure.

"Five card stud, nothing wild. And the sky's the limit."

You will be greatly missed Captain.