Started watching TOS in reruns in the late 70s and 80s.
I was a very lonely teenager in a blue collar, uneducated family when TNG premiered. I watched every episode of the first season alone in the dark on an old B&W tv as they were watching other stuff on the good TV.
TNG opened my eyes to a world of possibility, the diversity and wonder of life, leadership, and aspiring to something bigger than my small world.
There was plenty of criticism about the Wesley Crusher character in those early years, but as smart nerdy boy, I was grateful to see his character and how he was treated by the Geordi, Data and others. Gave me hope
Decades later, introducing my kids to TNG has been one of my greatest pleasures in life. They know and love the characters as I do.
There’s a nice statue of him across from the White House, right near the church where Trump held the Bible upside down. I walk past that statue almost every day and have a smile