Spring Preview

This spring I will chronicle two exciting trips that I'll be taking.  As usual, while in the midst of exploring everything each day has to offer, I'll try to provide daily updates of the experiences described below:

1. Habitat for Humanity - Sumter, SC - March 2013

As the adviser for CNU's Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter, I will travel with the students down to Sumter, SC for Habitat's Collegiate Challenge.  The details of our trip, beyond the location, are pretty vague at this point, but Habitat trips always consist of some meeting some awesome people and doing some incredible things.  Definitely looking forward to adding Sumter to my Habitat trip list consisting of Hilton Head, New Orleans, and Flagler Beach.

2. Pat's Run - Tempe, AZ - April 2013

This past fall semester, as I was prepping my syllabus for Leadership 210: Self, Group, and Leadership, I made a decision to include three additional required books, on top of the three that were already standard for the course. One of these books was Where Men Win Glory, by John Krakauer. WMWG was the book I was most hesitant to add, because it was 406 pages in length, but I ultimately decided that it was a selection that could teach these college freshmen Leadership in a very unique way. WMWG tells the story of Pat Tillman, a former NFL football player, who literally walked away from millions of dollars in guaranteed contract money to join the Army Rangers after 9/11. Pat sacrificed what was going to be a life of convenience and comfort, in order to do what he felt to be of utmost importance.

Sadly, Pat was killed by friendly fire before he was able to return to civilian life. His death left his wife Marie as a widow with a purpose - to honor her husband's truly remarkable legacy.  Marie founded the Pat Tillman Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that raises money to provide educational scholarships for military members and their families.  The Foundation's principal fundraiser is an annual race called Pat's Run, which takes place every April in Tempe, AZ.  After a group of my students took a strong interest in Pat's story, they decided to do their research project on the Foundation. While reaching out to gather info on the PTF, my students left quite an impression on the staff there, who wanted to know all about this University on the east coast that was using Pat's story as a model of Leadership.

Having already decided over the summer that I wanted to attend Pat's Run this year, I decided to chat with CNU's President to fill him in on the impression the girls had made.  We agreed that there would be no better way to represent CNU, then for the girls to head to Tempe to help facilitate this year's Run and meet the Foundation staff. And so, I am proud to report that this April, I will be taking four of my students to Arizona as we will support and experience Pat's Run.