Emily Melin, a Business and Enterprise Management major, attended the 2024 US Air Force Academy National Character and Leadership Symposium. “I am so grateful for this life-changing opportunity and the chance to meet with amazing role models of the highest caliber such as retired Navy Seal Anthony Dickman, Lt. Col. Bree Fram, Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin and so many more amazing individuals.”
Emily found the theme, Valuing Human Conditions, Cultures, and Societies, incredibly important and came away with clarification of “what it means to have a supportive and thriving culture, by focusing on human connections and getting back to the human nature that is at the center of the relationships between all of us.”
A key takeaway from the conference was the analogy made by Todd Simmons of comparing cultures to baking a cake. “You can just taste that the cake is off when any one ingredient like trust is missing, If you put in genuine care, concern and interest in the individual, for their wellbeing and their own process, if you invest in being actionable in reaching out to them, making sure that they feel heard – just like baking a cake, putting in that love will result in a great outcome.”
“Rosalyn Durant piggybacked on that discussion with the concept of saying ‘yes’ and pushing yourself as a leader outside of your comfort zone to make those connections, learn from other people and strive to challenge yourself and your beliefs. Saying ‘yes’ to the harder recipes will ultimately lead to the best tasting cake at the end of the day.”
“What I’ve learned that I will carry forward in my goals as a leader is the idea of becoming a transformational leader who can help others in their own journey to be able to thrive in the future.”