Name: Cat McCaw
Year: Senior
Major: Television Writing and Production
Hometown: Evergreen, CO
This past March, senior Cat McCaw attended the George C. Marshall Awards and Leadership Seminar in Fort Leavenworth, KS; a four-day event that only one cadet from every Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program in the nation is invited to attend. Amongst the invitees was Cat, representing California State University Fullerton’s program, the host program for the area. At the seminar, Cat was bestowed the General George C. Marshall award, “for recognition as the overall outstanding student in military and academic studies, leadership, and physical fitness for the academic year 2014-2015. This commendation is presented as a testimony of superior achievement and exceptional character, and as an encouragement for future service to the United States of America.”
For you personally, what was the most important lesson and/or experience gained from the seminar?
In one of the seminars or speeches in the auditorium, it was said that, “People aren’t in the Army, the Army is people.” I think that this concept speaks to how important it is to have care and compassion for your soldiers. A toxic leader is someone who is highly competent and capable, but doesn’t care about his or her people. I think it’s critically important to put your people first, and that was touched on quite a bit at the seminar.
The George C. Marshall Award is quite the accomplishment. How does that feel?
I’ve been in ROTC since day one of my freshman year, so it truly feels amazing that all of my hard work has kind of come to fruition.
You are going into the U.S. Army after graduation; describe your thoughts on that.
I am so, so, so excited to be commissioning in the Army. After four years of training and preparation, I’m eager to get started for real! I’ve made some incredible friends in the ROTC program, and I know our paths will cross again—it’s a small army, as they say. This year, especially, I have had some truly life changing mentors in ROTC. I feel blessed that they were assigned to our program because it is abundantly clear that they want us to be successful, and they work hard everyday to provide classroom instruction and training that will get us there. Ultimately, I hope that I serve as a selfless, caring leader, with the proficiency, confidence, and humility the job requires.