Congressman Dan Crenshaw talked to students in the Performing Arts Center during fifth period and the beginning of Flex Hour last Friday. Crenshaw represents Texas’ Second Congressional District. He was wounded during his tour of duty as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan that resulted in the loss of one eye and inferior vision in the other. He wears an eye patch.
During the speech and a subsequent Q & A period, Crenshaw stayed largely away from politics, instead focusing on his time in the military, friendship, problem solving and leadership.
“Leadership is not a solo mission, it’s about building a good team,” Crenshaw said during his speech. “No great leader stands alone. The best understand that they’re really only as good as the strong team around them.
Another major theme of his speech was what Crenshaw called “war gaming.”
“It means imagining all the possible bad things and contingencies that could possibly happen,” Crenshaw said. “That’s just preparing for the future, just makes you better at whatever it is you’re about to do.”
After his initial speech, he asked for questions from students, which ranged from stocks to military service.
He also took pictures with students and received a Kingwood Park merchandise basket as thanks.
Crenshaw has also spoken at Kingwood Park in the past. The previous two times he visited the campus to speak to students were in October 2019 and in April 2023.
It was senior class president Wells Kenny that talked to principal Wes Solomon about having Crenshaw speak this year.
“Wells brought the idea to me, and we discussed it and then ended up offering an invitation for [Congressman Crenshaw] to come out [Friday],” Solomon said.
For the past month, Kenny has worked at Crenshaw’s office as an intern. Day to day, the congressional office handles constituents for help with federal agencies like social security, veteran affairs as well as passport and immigration issues.
“We’re essentially like a customer service for our district,” Kenny said.
Some students expressed the desire for more guest speakers like Crenshaw to visit.
“[It would be] beneficial to see different people from other walks of life,” senior Abbey Papadimitriou said. “(I’d like to) hear their stories and their obstacles, and what they faced and how they have formed and become the person they are.”
