Please give a current update on yourself (college/ graduation year, major, grad school, work/ career, family, other interests, services, or hobbies).
I am a Political Science major at Texas A&M University, where I plan to graduate Spring of 2024. I am a member of the Corps of Cadets and Army ROTC and part of the mounted cavalry unit at Texas A&M, known as Parsons Mounted cavalry. The cavalry unit takes up most of my time as I am a Vet team member as well as on the Weapons Team.
In what ways did your Geneva education/training prepare you for the work you are doing right now?
In whatever organization I am participating in, I constantly interact with people and deal with new problems. A lot of these problems I have no idea how to fix from the start. But Geneva taught me not only how to interact and discuss with others but also how to be on the lookout to learn something new constantly. Being flexible and constantly willing to learn is crucial for me when I approach new dynamics daily.
Please describe the most significant value you learned from Geneva.
I learned the ability to be a constant and aggressive lifelong learner. You will never stop being exposed to new things in your life, so you should never stop adapting and learning new skills, either. Whether it’s new hobbies, new techniques on a job site, or just absorbing information, it’s crucial to go through life with a constant desire to learn.
How would you encourage a Geneva Rhetoric School student to make the most of their Geneva years?
Learn to balance. As you get older, you will only get busier. Find ways to balance your job (in your case, school…yes, that is your job), your social life, and your spiritual life. Remember what is truly a priority and what can be left for another day. This balance is key to keep you from spinning your wheels when life starts to really kick up, so practice now so you can perfect it.
That way, it can only help when those incredibly exciting and very busy times ahead of you come.
Describe Geneva in one word. Explain.
Opportunity. Geneva gives you an opportunity to learn, grow and train before going into the real world in a Christ centered place. This opportunity is something you have to make a conscious decision to take and appreciate every day while going through Geneva.
Please share one or two of your Geneva extracurricular activities and then contrast them with one or two of your current non-work activities.
At Geneva, I played football and soccer throughout Logic and Rhetoric School. It’s definitely a different world being constantly engulfed in a very unique college experience. As the rising PMC Commanding Officer I’m having to think of not just being a good leader but also being able to assess and choose good leaders to support an organization. In sports it was a much more active interaction with your goals, you were given a job or training plan and you did it. Now I am having to think of what jobs need to be done and how to create goals for the group to best succeed.
What are your future career goals and how do you feel prepared for them?
I intend to commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army as a Field Artillery officer. Texas A&M ROTC has an incredible program I am so blessed to be a part of. The teachers (cadre) put in the extra work, much like our Geneva teachers, and genuinely want us to succeed. This summer, I will attend “Cadet Summer Training,” which is essentially a final exam for a cadet about to commission. We have been preparing all year for it, and every week I feel more and more confident and excited to attend.
How are you impacted by your work now? What is something you have learned about yourself and God’s world?
Being in Parsons Mounted Cavalry and the Corps has impacted me so much in how I interact with people and approach situations. Learning how to treat others with dignity and respect and accomplishing goals with people from all sorts of backgrounds has given me so much insight into the real world past Geneva. I learned so much about how much of my life is not in my control like I thought it was. At first, this thought can be daunting, but with the realization that we worship a God that is in control of every aspect of our lives and this world, it is easy to take comfort in the fact that everything works to His purpose and His glory.