Cadet Keye Warren

1^st Experience: Drum Line Captain (High School)

I was elected the leader by vote of the rest of the drum line that year after a historically terrible Captain the previous year (aa)

I enjoyed seeing the team function as intended. I felt a great deal of satisfaction seeing the team do everything they were meant to do, especially when they were happy doing it. (!a)

I struggled differentiating between friend and leader, as most of the drum line were people I already considered close friends. (ba)

Some of the best leaders are examples of what not to do. (ca)

 

2^nd Experience: Counselor in Training Counselor (Summer Camp)

I was appointed the position during staff training at my summer camp. (ab)

Seeing the growth of young men who would take my place one day and continue to care for the camp I valued so deeply. (!b)

Properly handling disciplinary issues and emotions within young men barely younger than me. (bb)

Nobody’s story is ever what you think it is. (cb)

3^rd Experience: Team Leader for Army Fall FTX

I was randomly appointed out of my squad. (ac)

Having to manage my friends in a practical way. (!c)

Memorizing names and faces. (bc)

Make sure to recognize the individual strengths within a team and use them to your advantage. (cc)

 

Yes, the VMI leader’s journey is accurate to the experience that cadets all have thanks in no small part to honor. VMI has produced educated and honorable leaders for the past century and a half.

The 4^th class year (rat year) is all about learning the system, earning your place, and ultimately proving that you are worthy of becoming a functional member of that system, yes the experience lines up with the VMI Leader Journey. (d)

3^rd class years is where closer encounters with leadership begins. Mainly performing the tasks that were only visible to us as rats from a distance. Expectation and responsibility begins to pile up here. (e)

2^nd class year gets closer every day, and that is when it will be time to ensure that the 3^rds are able to properly perform the same tasks that we did, ideally with improvements where and when necessary. (f)

1^st class year is when cadets are mean to set the example, especially for the incoming rat mass, as we’ll have more direct involvement with them than ever. Additionally, by the end we will have all been given all that VMI has to offer us, and we’re expected to leave and become leaders and citizen soldiers. (g)

Follow_Warren

Leadership Goals: (h)

1. Commission into the United States Army as a Field Artillery Officer
2. Become proficient in a wider variety of practical skills
3. Achieve the rank of Staff Sergeant within my staff