Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Jean-Luc Picard

10. Tales From The Academy

As a young man, Jean-Luc Picard was brash, and arrogant, and often found himself at odds with the rules. That said, he still managed to graduate first in his class at the Academy, despite not getting in on the first try in 2322.

His Academy years were marked with successes and failures, with one such mistake almost costing him graduation. In fact, as Picard later stated, were it not for Boothby, he wouldn't have made it out at all. Boothby, for his part, maintained that all Picard needed to do was to listen to his gut, and stop carving initials in his trees.

This younger man was a skilled athlete, winning marathons, and taking down Ligonians. He was also a pilot, blessed with skills that saw him enter the 'Speed of Light' Club. For this, he piloted the USS Leondegrance at three hundred thousand kilometres per second, at level flight.

It was also during his Academy time that he had his fateful run-in with the Nausicaans, one that would leave him with an artificial heart, but a very real thirst to prove himself in Starfleet.