This episode features an interview with 1LT Evan Walker ‘21 and 1LT Tyrese Bender ‘21, recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship, a graduate scholarship program. 1LT Walker and 1LT Bender talk about their experience at West Point, what it took to receive the Rhodes Scholarship and attend the University of Oxford, and how they look to continue the legacy of the Long Gray Line in the future.
This episode features an interview with 1LT Evan Walker ‘21 and 1LT Tyrese Bender ‘21, recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship, a graduate scholarship program.
1LT Walker served as the Cadet Second Regimental Commander, Captain of the Army Boxing team, and co-President of the Elevation Initiative. In the first year of her Rhodes Scholarship, she completed a Master's of Sociology from the University of Oxford and will soon complete her candidacy as a Master of Public Policy. She looks forward to serving as a Military Intelligence Officer at Fort Liberty in North Carolina.
1LT Bender served as the Cadet Deputy Brigade Commander, a team captain for Army Track and Field, and will soon conclude his master’s degree at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a distinction-level award for his Sociology thesis. Outside of his graduate studies, he volunteers as a coach for young athletes and competes in multiple long-distance charity races, as he prepares for his next role as a Military Intelligence officer at Fort Eisenhower in Georgia.
In this episode, 1LT Walker and 1LT Bender talk about their experience at West Point, what it took to receive the Rhodes Scholarship and attend the University of Oxford, and how they look to continue the legacy of the Long Gray Line in the future.
**This episode does not imply Federal endorsement.
“ I think just being able to continue to open your mind to just collect all this information while also making sure you have the time to reflect on it, which the last two years with GSP at West Point really helps, the time that we've had at Oxford has really helped. And so taking in information, processing it so that you can better have the best actions or responses to those stimuli that you're encountering, I think has been the biggest thing.” - 1LT Evan Walker
“It was a long four years at West Point, and it was a long two years, as well, at Oxford. But I think the lessons that those years really taught me was just to remember how important it was to, not only understand and communicate complexity, but also to do so in a matter that is interpretable and motivating for the people that's in your organization. Because, as Evan mentioned earlier in this episode, it all boils down to people. And I think that not only the four years at West Point taking, you know, philosophy classes, physics classes, engineering classes, but also going through GSP and reflecting. And then, again, at Oxford being challenged intellectually, being challenged in our interpersonal relationships to widen our perspective, just makes us confront complexities and contexts in their raw form and being able to communicate them in a tangible format to people whose lives that they impact, I think is the sticking point for me from the past six years.” - 1LT Tyrese Bender
(02:18) Experiences at West Point
(12:22) Rhodes Scholarship program experience
(18:09) Writing retreat at Buckner
(24:33) The final competition
(33:33) Re-entering the Army
(41:16) Maintaining relationships
(47:18) Experiential learning outside of the classroom
(52:18) Key takeaways
West Point Graduate Scholarship Program
West Point Association of Graduates
[00:00:00] Narrator: Hello and welcome to the WPAOG podcast. This episode features an interview with First Lieutenant Evan Walker, West Point Class of 2021, and First Lieutenant Tyrese Bender, also Class of 2021. Lieutenants Walker and Bender are both recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship and were supported through the Graduate Scholarship Program. The West Point Graduate Scholarship Program uses margin of excellence funds to offer intensive mentorship of cadet candidates competing for prestigious scholarships such as the Rhodes, Marshall, and Fulbright.
Lieutenant Walker served as the Cadet 2nd Regimental Commander, Captain of the Army Boxing Team, and Co President of the Elevation Initiative. In the first year of her Rhodes Scholarship, she completed a Master's of Sociology from the University of Oxford and will soon complete her candidacy as a Master of Public Policy. She looks forward to serving as a military intelligence officer at Fort Liberty in North Carolina.
Lieutenant Bender served as the Cadet Deputy Brigade Commander, a team captain for Army Track and Field, and will soon conclude his master's degree at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a distinction level award for his sociology thesis. Outside of his graduate studies, he volunteers as a coach for young athletes and competes in multiple long distance charity races, as he prepares for his next role as a military intelligence officer at Fort Eisenhower in Georgia.
In this episode, Lieutenants Walker and Bender talk about their experience at West Point, what it took to receive the Rhodes Scholarship and attend the University of Oxford, and how they look to continue the legacy of the Long Gray Line in the future. Please enjoy this interview between First Lieutenant Evan Walker, First Lieutenant Tyrese Bender, and your host, Major Renee Sanjuan, Graduate Scholarship Program Executive Secretary Emerita, and Associate Dean for Communications at West Point.
[00:02:18] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Why don't we start by you giving us a little bit of background on what your West Point experience was like?
[00:02:25] 1LT Tyrese Bender: My West Point experience was probably, like many others, a very interesting journey. You know, coming into the academy and you're going through BEAST, getting yelled at by people who are only a bit older than you, but carry this strange sense of authority. It excites a lot of fear and anxiety, but I think after a while you start to see sort of like the beauty of at least the BEAST concept and that you are suffering in this community.
[00:02:52] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: The beauty of being yelled at.
[00:02:54] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Mmm, I don't know about the yelling part. I would say, you know, you, you do get to hear about the good ways of leading and then some of the bad ways, and I think most of the good ways that I experienced didn't always come from just yelling at people, but inspiring them through, you know, personal examples, being respectful, etc. But I just think, yeah, it was a very interesting transformation coming into Beast, having to get thrown into this entirely different world, but then finding the beauty in that you can lean on one another in order to get through those tough times. And now
[00:03:24] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: you did a lot at the academy, right? So after Beast concludes and you start delving into your studies, into different clubs and sports, right? What did you decide to partake in and how did that influence your trajectory?
[00:03:40] 1LT Tyrese Bender: I think I partook probably too strongly in the academics part in the beginning of my cadet career. And I know that's important. Obviously, you know, I had a passion for it. And so I advise most people who do have a passion to go strongly into your studies.
But yeah, that first year I, I, I really Deep into the books, I learned a lot. I had a good amount of fun in that, but I also realized that, you know, there are other things that I were passionate about, such as Army Track and Field. So I was a triple jumper and a long jumper for Army Track and Field.
Eventually became team captain my junior year and senior year, which were amazing, incredible experiences. Love my teammates, my coaches. And then also felt, you know, a strong push. very particularly from mentors who saw something in me that I may not have necessarily saw in myself and that was through the Excel Scholars Program, that was through XH, and that pushed me into kind of the key summer leaders roles.
[00:04:34] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Could you give us an example of One of those mentors that pushed you or made you realize that there was some potential there or at least that you wanted to explore it.
[00:04:45] 1LT Tyrese Bender: The most profound example and I think the one that was a pretty big tipping point for me early in my career was as a junior, as a cow.
There was a, you know, a moment to pursue KSL slots. Um, the applications that you had to submit were nothing too demanding, but for Tyrese at that time I was like, I don't really know if this is necessarily something I want to do. It's fine, whatever. And then through Excel, um, a lot of the mentors were Basically pestering me every single day saying you need to do this, you should do this.
And eventually when an 03, 04, or 05 is telling you to do something, at one point you have to start to listen and apply. So that's where KSL kind of came into the fold and I'm really grateful for it. Taught me a lot,
[00:05:26] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: so. And what position did you end up taking?
[00:05:29] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Originally, it was EXO for Cadet Leadership Development Training, so CLDT.
COVID ended up happening, so they switched our role from CLDT to CLD, which was a new program intended to not only in process Cadets from their homes across the country and across the world, but also preparing them for the academic year during COVID times. And so, this was a completely new detail under crazy, you know, social, political circumstances.
And so, it was a really great learning experience because the cadets, um, and the greensitters just We're inventing an entirely new wheel. So I had a lot of good experiences, learned a lot as a leader, and again, just leaned on my teammates to help me see it through. So Evan was doing amazing, too. I saw her across the field doing her CBT commander stuff, so.
Queen
[00:06:19] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: of beasts. So going into that last academic year, can you, I feel like you, as Evan said the other day, are often humble and not highlighting your accomplishments, Tyrese. So what was your final position at the academy?
[00:06:34] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Final position was the deputy brigade commander, so I was the second in command just under the first captain and just on the day to day basis advising, filling in for her.
It was cadet first captain Riley McGinnis at the time and so we had a great team and did a lot of great work that year.
[00:06:49] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: So Evan, what was your experience, right? Tyrese has already talked about seeing you across the field, across the way as the cadet basic training commander, queen of beasts as people often refer to it.
And you know, what was your West Point experience
[00:07:03] 1LT Evan Walker: like? Yeah, definitely similar to Tyrese. Like I think he touched on a lot when describing beasts, like shared hardship for sure. Even now we're besties in Oxford and we talk about our time at West Point, we're like, we did some crazy things. That's a very unique experience to have, but yeah, similar to Tyrese, I definitely dove into my studies, but I wasn't on the core squad.
I joined the boxing team. I had the blessing of having three cousins at the academy with me. So a firstie, a cow, and a yuck when I was a bleeb, and they were all on the boxing team and they're like, you got to hang out with us. You got to join. That's the only team you can try out for. Thankfully though, I really enjoyed it.
I played soccer growing up, so it was very different to use my hands. So
[00:07:45] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: you didn't box before coming to the academy?
[00:07:47] 1LT Evan Walker: No, I didn't. Oh, wow. Yeah, and so even then, I actually was on the team before I took plea boxing, uh, and so that definitely changed the way I went into the course. I wasn't, you know, the typical nervous plea, but I was very comfortable, cool, calm, and collected, you know.
[00:08:03] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Totally comfortable getting punched in the face. It was just natural at that point. Okay.
[00:08:08] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Delivering the
[00:08:09] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: punches. Delivering the punches. You're right, Tyrese. I'm sorry. That's right.
[00:08:12] 1LT Evan Walker: You just gotta keep your hands up. But yeah, so I did operations research when it was time, I think, second semester pre BR to declare our majors and really enjoyed that.
And then from there, also, actually PLEAD we are talking about mentors. So I was a little bit involved in the Excel program with Tyrese, but more involved in the elevation initiative. And that was head run by Carl Spain. I don't know if it still is, but I remember during ESP as a PLEAD, you know, with our open door ESP and my PTs doing my homework.
And then like a major comes. to our door at like seven. I'm like, why is there like, why is he in the barracks? And it was, um, Major Morrow. And he was like, Hey, Evan, like you've been performing well. I'd like you to come to Elevation. It's really big on mentorship and leadership. And we'd really like to like, just have you out.
So that was the beginning of my time with Elevation and where I really got to learn more about mentorship and just like really developing like my leadership skills and in the same space with other cadets who are really passionate about like, Contributing to the Academy in that capacity. That's what I was really involved with my final years of the Academy and is what for me helped me prepare for KSL in which when the time came to apply, did the boards and everything, and then was selected as CBT 1 commander.
But then, you know, we went home for spring break and didn't come back until. CVT as a single detail, which I was very grateful to still be a part of the cadre. And we did cadet basic training during COVID for about six weeks. And that led right into the academic year of first year, which where I was the second reg commander.
[00:09:47] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Now, I remember us, I think our first mentorship meeting was a phone call before you went off to Beast, and could you describe what you were feeling before you walked into that role during the summer of COVID? Oh
[00:10:05] 1LT Evan Walker: man, I don't know if you remember, I was a mess. I was so nervous because it was just so complex.
Like Tegu said, like, we were definitely building the plane as we were flying it. Usually you can kind of just take from the last year's detail and change some things, you know, create a new task force name and like, you change the culture of it, but the trainings are pretty much similar. But for us, we had to totally wipe the slate clean or figure out how to bring everyone back where everyone who had left didn't pack out a room.
So we're like having to have people come back and pack out rooms and prepare, do isolation. So it was just very difficult. And I think, you know, also again, socially within the United States, there was a lot going on as well. And so as a Black woman, just being in that space, uh, was also very difficult, I think, and also trying to make sure.
As we're bringing in a whole new class of cadets during a pandemic and social unrest, how to make sure they feel like West Point's a place for them and that they can do it. So yeah, there was a lot on the plate for sure. And also that was where we were first starting talking about like going into the XH program first year and applying for scholarships.
I know we had started touching on like, maybe I should apply for Rhodes. And I was like, ma'am, I don't have time to even think about any of that right now, like writing a personal statement, like no, which later on when it came to, I know we'll talk about it, the writing retreat, that's why it was so helpful for me to like step away because just going off of CBT right into the academic year again, where we're trying to figure out, you know, social distancing and quarantines and things like that and virtual classes, like, Writing an essay was the last thing I wanted to do for a scholarship, you know, and doing more school.
So it was a lot going on, but it all worked out and I'm very grateful.
[00:11:44] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: What I think is really fascinating about what both of you have highlighted, even just subtly, is that you're so busy. There's so much happening at West Point as a cadet that sometimes You need that little nudge, right? You need that nudge from someone else to, to make you stop and pause and have even the capacity to think about, oh, well, I guess I could do that.
You know, you don't always necessarily think of yourself in that role. So I think that's, um, really powerful that you were both able to find people. Or if people found you, right, and encouraged you along these paths that are really incredible to think of how much that you accomplished just as a cadet, right?
So why don't we transition a little bit and talk about the scholarship program experience, the courses that you took, and really, you can highlight anything about this in general. But focus it a little bit on how this had an impact on your development as scholars, as future army officers, and that
[00:12:45] 1LT Evan Walker: sort of thing.
I actually didn't want to apply for the XH program going into what would have been our Cal year, but I had a really close friend being like, Hey, like, just at least apply, like, just give it a go. You know, I, you know, that a lot on your plate. Again, I was like, I have, I was also a junior captain and captain of the boxing team first year.
And so I was like, there's just too much to do, but he encouraged me to apply. And I'm so glad I did because the first class we took Cal year really just focused on like reflection, guided reflection on like, you know, different prompts and understanding impact, which. It was a concept I'd never really reflected on.
And I still remember we had an impact quad chart where it was like individual, community, national, and like global or international. And that was where it was really like reassuring that like, you don't have to have this like global impact, you know, you don't have to have a plan as a cadet right now on how you're gonna, you know, solve world peace, you know, it was like individual impact is okay.
And like caring about the individual person, the person next to you, making their day better. the underclassmen, being able to like prepare them for the next year coming up. That was really awesome. And so just providing that, like those tools, I guess, to kind of formulate how to go about the next few years of life.
And professionally, I think just like those writing prompts, the interviews, the reflection really helped me better communicate and verbalize my thoughts and just write in a non academic manner, but still one where you're like, Telling a story. It was super helpful. And I think just now that's always something that you need, especially as a leader, to be able to communicate.
And so for me, that's, I think the biggest thing I got from GSP and the XH programs.
[00:14:24] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Tyrese, what about you?
[00:14:26] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Yeah, I think a bit different my introduction to GSP slash XH. I didn't have any trepidation or hesitation for the program, simply because I had no idea what XH or GSP really entailed. I know there's some details listed there, but I kind of just filled out the application best of my abilities and went through.
And when I did figure out what it was, which was, you know, in structured reflection, meeting with peers who are going to challenge you on your your reflections on certain pieces that we're reading through, that we're talking through. Honestly, it was a little bit difficult for me to continue sitting through the program.
I think some of the, the toughest problems are probably the ones that are closest to you. And so some of the problems that you're wrestling with in this class are the ones that, you know, are from your childhood, from your upbringing, from your background, and having to find clarity in your reflections to that was.
So difficult sometimes, especially amidst all of the other West Point responsibilities, you kind of just wanted to run away from it. But again, when you're in this sort of shared community of people who are doing the same thing, it kind of becomes difficult to face, you know, your friends and your classmates and be like, I don't want to contribute the same amount of.
personal commitment to my development as you are. And so I think that led me and pushed me through. And yeah, it was great just, you know, hearing stories from people's very diverse interests. I mean, I remember within my, my specific group, one of my peers was studying something at the intersection between philosophy and physics.
And I was like, that's so interesting. It's so intriguing where I, it challenged me to kind of look at. My own intellectual explorations with a little bit more courage and bravery and just challenging myself to think about ways in which I can apply what I'm studying in unique ways.
[00:16:06] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: It's incredible, right, when you see the people around you, and even just in the most subtle of ways, can influence the way that you want to step back and challenge yourself a little bit more, right?
Like, oh, that was so interesting. Am I that interesting? Right? How can I get to, get to that point? Actually, for us, even as faculty, we would leave class. often challenged ourselves thinking, man, here I am, you know, telling the cadets to challenge themselves more and do this and do that and work harder and, and all of these different ways.
And we would come back to the office afterwards and say, wow, we really need to step it up because every time we would have this interaction, it was so inspiring. So If we could talk a little bit about, you know, Evan had mentioned it earlier, right, when you were in your summer detail, overwhelmed with how much was going on, especially amidst COVID, and now it's a matter of you've got us not knocking on your door to say, Hey, come start this awesome experience.
And now it's, Hey, so have you produced those products that you need to put together? Right? And it can become stressful. In fact, I think I think I remember leading into the writing retreat, Evan, at one point I was, I was asking, Hey, do you have any of your essay drafts ready? And you were not responding to me.
I realized it was because you didn't have them and you were embarrassed to say it. I was like, don't worry, we got you, right? This is what the program's about. We have things built in so that we can, you know, set you up for success, especially, you know, when you're doing these really incredible assignment, leadership assignments of the academy, um, leadership opportunities, I would say, not assignments.
We have to build some of that in, so the writing retreat is one way that we definitely focus on creating this bubble in a way, right? We protect some of that time, some of that precious time, to give you time and space to reflect. Even if it's just a matter of a couple of days, right? It's not like we give you a week, but it's about, you know, two days, maybe a little bit less.
Can we talk through that experience? Yes, ma'am. The
[00:18:08] 1LT Tyrese Bender: writing retreat, I know, for some people carried a lot of, you know, wondering, what is that? Where are we going? I'm going to a log cabin. During COVID, it was just Buckner. But I think I just is probably not the right word to use. For me, at least, it was It was a sigh of relief just having this sort of oasis that is Buckner.
So, oasis, I'll use lightly, but it was an oasis during this time where we're trapped on, you know, the installation to be able to get a little bit of access to the outdoors, having access to this carved out space and time where we can. Just sit, reflect, and write out who we are within a thousand words. And I think the most beautiful part about that for me was just being able to sit there and be vulnerable amongst people who are involved in that same process of vulnerability.
I mean, I can't count the amount of times that I would just share some of the deepest you know, personal stories of my life with other classmates. And even I remember talking to Evan about just these feelings of not feeling ready, not feeling like an imposter, applying to this grand scholarship like the Rhodes.
And I think just having that conversation provided me a lot more reassurance that, you know, at least I'm not alone in these feelings of not being Ready when in actuality, we really are. We just need that time to sit, reflect, and understand what we have to provide to the world.
[00:19:32] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: What was it like? Because I distinctly remember watching you walking around outside at Buckner on a call, right?
And so what we had done is we couldn't bring people to you during COVID, so we set up some virtual calls with mentors, and many of which have been in your shoes and have gone through this program, the application process. What was it like being able to have access to those mentors and some of those conversations?
[00:20:01] 1LT Tyrese Bender: I think it changed the course of my application completely. Prior to going into my first year, I had written a personal statement. It wasn't any good, but it was still like
[00:20:10] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Like every first draft is. It was there
[00:20:13] 1LT Evan Walker: though. It was there.
[00:20:15] 1LT Tyrese Bender: It was there. It was, it was there. So I felt some sense of pride, like, oh, I have something written and it's good.
And I was using this kind of prolonged metaphor. And then I think I was assigned to Major Watson sitting down and Having him read through it and he's like, you know what, that's not really what we need to be going. It's not the direction we need to be going. And having somebody who's been through that process, who's able to deliver you not only a bit of grace and positive feedback, but also critical commentary on, you know, I don't think you're actually displaying who you are authentically.
So it helped me kind of pull apart this veil that I was hiding behind and be a little bit more true to, to self.
[00:20:52] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: That's awesome.
[00:20:53] 1LT Evan Walker: Evan, what about you? Yeah, well, other than actually having the time to write it, um, and sit there, I still remember like, and also it's, it's, I think I really enjoy being able to see Buckner not in like a CFT field environment because it actually is so beautiful.
[00:21:11] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: All the old grads listening into this are like, wait a minute, what? Is this the same Buckner I went to? The Corps has. The Corps
[00:21:18] 1LT Evan Walker: has. The Corps certainly has. So beautiful being in the fall and it's not super hot, you know, but yeah, for me, like, really appreciate being able to talk to those mentors. I remember like actually sitting down with Dr.
King and being like, I had these stories that I wanted to tell and like, kind of understood where I'd been, but was very confused on where I was trying to go. I think before that writing retreat and just sitting down and talking through like one that, you know, your journey doesn't have to be linear.
Things didn't necessarily make sense to me, especially as it connects to like academics, but being able to sit down and be like, Oh, like it's okay that doesn't connect. Cause like, it doesn't need to be a straight line. You can bounce and get pull a little bit from here, pull a little bit from there was super helpful.
And then also to kind of really lean on like, okay, sociology is a very, it'll teach me the why behind these concepts that I know exist. that have been proven with statistics. That's the what. And so, okay, let's do sociology and statistical science. It's like, yeah, that makes so much sense. So just being able to like have those aha moments and really fit the puzzle pieces together.
And even then a puzzle is not like perfect edges, right? They're all squiggly. Right,
[00:22:26] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: right. Yeah. And you're not doing this. With the 45 minutes you have between classes, right, this is where you can, you can think about it a little bit, you can step back, maybe you can go for a run or swim in some cases, and then come back to it, and so it's, it was amazing, or it is amazing every time we have the writing retreat to watch the evolution of the way that people envision their future and make sense of their past.
It's really incredible. And some things that, honestly, many professionals don't really start doing until much later in their careers. So I think that it's really incredible that you had the opportunity to, but then also dedicated the time and effort to doing that early in your
[00:23:09] 1LT Evan Walker: career. Well, thank y'all for creating the space to
[00:23:11] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: do it.
I can't take credit for that. I mean, it's been in existence for a while, um, but I do think it's awesome to see it continue to march on through the generations, if you will. In fact, I fondly remember phone calls with former executive secretaries of the program and phone calls and email correspondence talking about, you know, well, what was the initial inspiration for this?
And what was the purpose of that? We took the very first XH syllabus. that was taught as a, like, a general elective and took a look at that and tried to incorporate some of that into the current syllabus. It's just amazing to watch how things transform over time. And when we think about transformation, right, so you've done these courses, then Let's talk about the competition itself, right?
So the actual competition, what was it like to compete and obviously, in this case, win?
[00:24:04] 1LT Evan Walker: It was an awesome experience. I think, like, I'm very grateful that, like, we had the opportunity to win and the experiences that came afterwards with that. But even the application process itself and, like, the competition, it was amazing, honestly.
And, like, you learn so much about yourself and, thankfully, it was over COVID, so it wasn't like we were Once we found out we were finalists and we're preparing, you know, the mock interviews and stuff, you know, usually you go to your district, like, base and compete in person, but because of COVID, we were virtual.
So we were all in the basement of Lincoln Hall, uh, in our uniforms, you know, on the, on the day of the interviews. And I think it's also interesting because like, it's, you're competing against people, you know, you never met, uh, across the country as it relates to your district, but like, we're also the finalists.
Uh, at the academy, like, there wasn't any competitiveness between us. I think, you know, most of us actually weren't even in the same district, but even then, like, to get to that point, you know, we're getting the eye lowers and stuff together, you know, we're, we're, you could argue that we're fighting for, like, the investment, the attention, uh, the preparation.
Uh, space and time, but we were just so supportive of each other. Like, I still remember Dan Moncaster, who was amazing. He, right before, was like helping me prep to be like vulnerable for my interview. And so like, we walked through Trophy Point. We walked through Trophy Point and sat on like one of the benches and like cried, like telling like these stories together.
And like, just like really got ready to open our hearts and like truly be authentic. And like, I couldn't have done that by myself and getting that headspace on my own, so being able to like have that community together of people going through the same experience was, I think, what made us that more prepared and also not that scary.
[00:25:45] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: It's amazing the kind of bonds you build. Yeah,
[00:25:48] 1LT Tyrese Bender: I give a shout out to Dan Moncaster as well. He does an amazing job at getting vulnerable with conversation. So I resonate with that piece too. I would say for me, the competition as a whole, or going back to at least the start of it, there was a lot of doubt for me coming out of the summer of my first year.
So I just finished a very fulfilling, challenging detail. I was the XO for CLD, and I felt very strongly that this is what kind of my calling was, was to continue to be in the army, continue to be a servant leader to others. And because of that, I actually ended up drafting an email to you, Major San Juan, basically saying, thanks for the support for this Rhodes Scholarship, but I don't think I'm gonna continue doing this.
I did my best to still talk to mentors. Lean on somebody else's ear to make sure I was making the right decision because it was a big decision. So before hitting send, talk to a lot of greensuiters and a lot of their advice, uh, was good advice in that, you know, kind of leaning towards, say, the army.
deserves and needs leaders. Um, and so I kind of felt drawn towards submitting sent on that.
[00:26:57] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: So it's interesting that you had this vision that they were mutually exclusive. What caused you to think in that sort of frame of mind? I think it was just
[00:27:06] 1LT Tyrese Bender: recency bias. Just having that very tangible experience two days removed of being within the army, working with army personnel, both officers and NCOs and cadets.
I just felt, you know, for better or worse, that this is the thing I wanted to get into immediately without any pause. But thankfully before I, I hit send on that, that email, I called my mom and she cussed me out for like two minutes or so.
[00:27:35] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: As all great moms might do.
[00:27:38] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Yes. And so as all, I mean, I, it's not the first time, so I was, I learned how to kind of filter it through one ear and let it go out the
[00:27:45] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: other.
And you had your beast experience, as you mentioned.
[00:27:48] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Yes, ma'am, prepare me well. But her tone changed rather suddenly, and she started to ask me a very poignant question, which was, if you care about being a leader, does competing for scholarships help you accomplish that end? And I couldn't come up with a viable reason to say no.
And so I didn't send that email. I continued to go through that competition. And all of that experience was very much what, what Evan was saying, which was very challenging, but it was very lovely to be able to lean on other people, not in a sort of competitive fashion, but in a communal fashion and being able to just see that you're not in this alone.
You can be vulnerable and you're going to find that other people are going to meet you halfway there. And so, yeah, being in the competition, being in the actual Zoom room was probably the craziest 20 minutes. of my life. I mean, you're not, you know, you're not in plea boxing. You're not in survival swim.
Like, things are calm. You're sitting, standing in one place, looking at a camera. But just the gravity of that situation, I think, sits with you so heavily that the only thing that I felt comfortable doing is just Being my authentic self, which I think was the only thing I could have felt comfortable doing because win or lose, I want to make sure that they judged me on the merits of my own character and my authentic self rather than anything else.
So that was kind of the story winning amongst fellow finalists. Winning amongst Evan was a great experience not having to kind of just be in a random city wondering who to call, who to talk to next. We could turn to one another and be like, hey, congratulations. This is This is all deserving for you. So it was great.
Yeah,
[00:29:25] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: the energy of watching you all
[00:29:26] 1LT Evan Walker: hug. Tyrese's district was like one of the first to select their winners.
[00:29:31] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: He was the first to find out that he won out of our cohort. Yeah,
[00:29:35] 1LT Evan Walker: and so I still remember like fully having had the first round of my interviews and was waiting. to like get called back or see like what they were going to do.
And I was like, well, I'm really hungry. And so Tyrese brought me Chipotle and I was like, Oh, like, Hey, like, are you done? He's like, yeah, I won. I was like, what? Like, he's like, yeah, I won. And I was like, oh my, you know, yeah. I was like, oh my gosh. She's like, well, can you stay focused? Cause you still got to go and finish yourself.
I was like, okay. Okay. And so just sitting there like, oh my gosh, this is so
[00:30:02] 1LT Tyrese Bender: exciting. I tried to do my best not to raise up any antics because you were still in the thick of it. You were going late. I was the
[00:30:08] 1LT Evan Walker: last one and so even what finding out I won and then going and everyone's like so happy and you know we I mean we I still have the picture of us of all of us hugging us to that one and even the other finalists so it was just such a great community so supportive.
Yeah
[00:30:21] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: I remember everybody waiting. Right? It wasn't even just that, and, and you're scattered, a lot of people don't realize you're scattered over time zones, and so for some of, some of you, Evan, example, right, it wasn't until late at night, Tyrese found out earlier on, and, and other people found out that they'd Unfortunately, didn't win all incredible candidates, and they all stuck around, right?
Everyone hung out in the conference room, cheering each other on and wanting to find out so that they can be there for you, whether you won or didn't. And that sort of energy, I think is just, it's really hard to explain to someone who doesn't go through that experience of just, even for me, just watching on the, from the outside.
The camaraderie and the support that everybody has for each other is really incredible. And, you know, sometimes someone had said it before that there are times where you will create a connection with somebody at the Academy, but it's not necessarily the level of depth where you're sharing vulnerable moments about your life where, and oftentimes that'll happen as your careers go on, right?
You stay in touch with each other and you're, and you stay connected over your lives. But it's really incredible that in such a short period of time, You've built such deep connections with each other that honestly last a lifetime. You know, you mentioned Dan Moncaster and even as faculty, I think, oh man, I need to reach out to him.
You know, Dan was amazing. Um, there's just so many of you in that boat that it's really awesome and something, and one of the reasons why we've established the Graduate Scholarship Program Alumni Network, which is an organization through the Association of Graduates where We, it's in its infancy stages right now, but we're building it out so people can continue to stay connected to the program in meaningful ways.
Things like the writing retreat and being able to, to call in and, and other ways to serve, to give back to the program, but then also just to stay connected because there seems to be this energy amongst all of the graduates of the program, cadets and faculty. where you feel the sense of loss when it's over and you don't want it to end.
So just really incredible, and it's awesome to hear it from, from your perspectives as well. All right, so you win, right? Now you're real excited. Things just kick off. I mean, you are Having media interviews and giving quotes, and it's just constant bombardment as you're finishing your first year. And then you transition, you graduate, and you head off to Oxford.
Then what, right? Like, I think that what would be really awesome is if you could tell us about any unique experiences, things that you might have overcome, just special parts of this Rhodes Scholarship experience that you'll then take with you as you Reenter the army into your operational army positions coming up.
Yeah, I think
[00:33:07] 1LT Tyrese Bender: the transition to Oxford there was certainly not a sort of beast onboarding event, but it definitely felt challenging in its own right. Um, especially for people like me who were shifting, well, me and Evan, who are shifting degree fields. And, you know, like I said, I come from engineering background, very comfortable with dealing with numbers.
And I was very intrigued with some sociological questions. And so going to the University of Oxford, studying MPhil in sociology and demography was sort of a complete 180. And I think I, I felt that quite prominently in the first eight weeks or so here. You hit the ground running, you're writing essay, a thousand word essays every week.
And so just having to not only battle this new material, understanding how to apply complex theory and relying on, you know, tangible, empirical subjects in order to make your point, you're also having to battle your own perception of self. And my understanding of self was very much, I'm a STEM guy, you know, I, I'm trying to explore something new and just making sure that I get myself out of that, that space of negative self talk and understanding that you deserve to be here, you're here to learn, you can adapt, you're prepared for this, and so there's a lot of intellectual and academic growth.
That I think, you know, will allow me to apply these skills of synthesizing complex information, apply that when I'm a leader, having to do the same within the army. So that's a part of the kind of academic challenge that I faced at
[00:34:35] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Oxford. Was there a moment when you felt like you hit your stride? I
[00:34:39] 1LT Tyrese Bender: would say it was a marathon, not a sprint.
And so maybe after the first term, there was definitely a stride that I'd hit and I convinced myself, you know, after writing 8, 000 to 10, 000 words worth of sociological essays, I felt like not only was I able to understand these concepts, but communicate them clearly. And I think that stride was, was nice in that it provided me not only that sense of confidence to get over these.
muddled self perception issues that I was dealing with, but also allowed me to kind of look onward to what else that Oxford had to offer in these, you know, community spaces where you can have discussions with Rhodes Scholars, have discussions with your classmates, you can go on and coach for an athletic sports team for high school, which is what I did, or train for a marathon.
So these are all of like different opportunities that Oxford allows you to do. But I think it took me until getting over that. Or hitting my stride, so to speak, to get access to those other amazing opportunities. So
[00:35:36] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: a literal and figurative marathon. Exactly. Okay. All right. Awesome. Um, so glad to hear that the running didn't end.
And so you were able to take all of your skills to Oxford with you. What about you, Evan?
[00:35:48] 1LT Evan Walker: Well, I do definitely want to add, so I did an MSc in sociology, so Tyrese and I took a lot of our, my first year of classes together. It's so beautiful, like behind the sociology building, there's like a canal, um, and the trees are over there, and the water's going, and birds and flowers, and after class we just kind of like look over on the canal and just have like check ins, be like, are you good?
Yeah, you're good. Do you understand what's going on? Yeah, we got this. Yeah, we got this. Um, so this is really nice to even then, like, we went through the application experience together, post selection process together, and then the actual physical moving and transition period together, and then that first year academically.
So I'm just so grateful to have them, again, agree complete with everything about the academic, um, adaption that had to take place, uh, with going from operations research and STEM to sociology, and then now I'm doing actually just I just finished my final report and I'm in the waiting period for my, uh, master of public policy.
And so that was definitely something I think at the University of Oxford, it's just an academic institution. But I think one of the things I had to go through was kind of figuring like, what is my role here? At West Point, you know, we're coming off of, especially the last few years, like very structured.
Leadership roles and positions. And you're exactly what that is in our, you know, Cadet Pam. We have like this as a, as a regiment commander, you do this, you know, and this is what you do your time. And this is how you're evaluated. And so being in a place where that clear organizational structure does not exist, I was really like struggling, like, yeah, like, what is my role here?
Like, I know my talents and my strengths. I know my weaknesses, but like. What do I do with like no formal way to practice these or better it and so I really had to go on like reflecting on, you know, how I'm going to spend my time here and still better myself without, I think, those hierarchies and structures.
And what does leadership in a less formal and informal way look? And so I think that really took a time to take a step back and realize like, still people, people are still always the thing, like, it's interpersonal relationships. And so I think for me, it was really learning how to just Be a great friend.
Be intentional with the people that I've built the relationships like even at Oxford of, Hey, you know, you want to go off to coffee? Like, I'd love to hear about what you're studying right now. Or friendships from West Point that, you know, we're on different sides of the world right now. They're being a platoon leader.
Um, like, Hey, how is it? Being like, is it everything you thought it was? How's the transition been? How's your unit? And so being intentional and being a good person, I think is just like, in that relationship capacity was how I really was like, okay, this is my role. And then this is informal leadership, and this is still motivating, inspiring people.
And as well, I think for me, I really got into my faith. And so Rhodes Christian Fellowship was where It ended up being a more formal leadership role. I was a co leader, but I really was able to be surrounded by a great cohort of people who were on fire and we totally revamped the organization to really get at our spiritual walk.
So I think for me, learning that it doesn't have to be formal. It can be informal leadership. You don't have to have a strict role. Just being and being a good person is enough. So that was me.
[00:38:58] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Yeah, I was gonna say, there's so many, even when you're, when you're not here, there's so many people who are like, I love Evan, Evan's the best.
And it just really speaks to the fact that, like, you know, you, you took interpersonal relationships to heart as, you know, something that you truly cared about. And I think that, you know, paid dividends as far as. How people felt whenever you entered the room and left the room.
[00:39:18] 1LT Evan Walker: Bless you. No, but it's just so important.
I think like, especially at West Point, like, again, we're, all of our time is dictated, right? So even like learning how to, which honestly I learned from you about just putting on the calendar, I'm going to reach out to this person and we're going to sit and we're going to have coffee, you know, and let me try to meet someone new.
I think that's also something like learning how to build relationships, not only just keep them, foster them, um, and maintain them, you know? So it's been
[00:39:47] 1LT Tyrese Bender: nice. Yeah. Yeah. I think West Point was, was a little difficult because like you mentioned, when everything is Kind of predetermined. We have to go to a football game.
You can't necessarily say like, Hey friend, let's go to a football game. It's no, we're going to be at the football game. So it's hard to actually like create that feeling of bonding and intentionally bonding with somebody as opposed to here. I think you learn about the ways in which you can.
[00:40:10] 1LT Evan Walker: And it's the same.
It translates well, like with leadership, like, you know, you have to be intentional with knowing your soldiers. Just understanding what's going on in their life, to be able to check in on them, not just go through the motions of trainings and even counseling and things like that, like, it's intentionality is so important, so I'm grateful that we had the ability to practice that over two years.
It'll translate well. Would you be
[00:40:32] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: able to touch on You're not the only ones in the UK, right? So, West Point has, thankfully, had a plethora of success in this area, and we've sent scholars for Fulbright UK, Marshall Scholarship, Rhodes, I mean, the Rotary, the list goes on. Were you able to connect with other graduates, whether from your group or others, while you've been at Oxford?
[00:40:59] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Yeah, so Marshall scholarship for our year was only Langdon, but I feel like we just like we're so close to him throughout our like two year experience here, who was just kind of a short train ride over in London, and it just provide us an ability to have these sort of separate lives and separate academic experiences, but then to come together whenever He wanted to visit Oxford, or we wanted to visit London, and catch up in this intentional and authentic way.
And also just, you know, this is a very unique experience being a military officer, being in the UK, trying to do your best to not only prepare yourself for the present context of Getting ready for classes, but also prepare yourself for the future when you're going to be an MI officer, when you're preparing for Bullock and things like that.
And I think Langdon is a little bit ahead of us and he's going, he's starting the Bullock process now. And he has been such a blessing to both of our lives, I will say, and just being sort of a mentor and having experienced these things out processing, in processing early on, and then being willing to give that information and share that knowledge back to us.
So it's been, it's been a blessing.
[00:42:06] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Depth with anyone from the other classes?
[00:42:08] 1LT Evan Walker: Yes. Well, so I did want to add to it in our class, Denton Knight, uh, he's a Barry Scholar at Oxford. And so like, we would have, we kind of live in like this little triangle and are all like very close to each other. And so like he had us over for dinner and cooked us, um, a very delicious dinner, all vegetarian.
It was so good. I still remember it was so good. And so, yeah, we'd have hangouts with him. And then also the, for ladies who are the 2022 Rhodes Scholars from West Point, Hannah Blakely, Holland Pratt, Veronica Lucian, and Krista Flankstrom. They have had get togethers. They have like, all live in a very big house out on the east side of Oxford.
And so they'll have get togethers. We'll go see them. We'll meet up for coffee. We talked about, you know, the transition process of when they were applying for their second year programs. So I get to see them a great amount, honestly, and even, uh, I'm really close to Christina Hughes, who's a 2022 Fulbright UK at Warwick.
And so she came out to Oxford. Um, we went to church together, showed her around my school, uh, and she was actually my first salute. So like to be able to be in the UK together, yes, yes. So, um, yeah, we've definitely been able to stay in touch with a lot of the, um, years. And even now, like I know, uh, Tyrese was telling me like about the meetups he'll have with the incoming.
2023s who are coming. I know I'll meet up with Margaret Williams whenever I get back to Oxford.
[00:43:28] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: And I think what would be really great that you haven't experienced yet, but as you go out into the force, right, and you integrate back into the operational army, now you'll be able to have that 22 cohort, you can call them and talk through this experience and help them in their transition into their various different army positions and really help, I think, when it comes to Leveraging this experience as best you can and all the different ways that it's helped you grow and develop and mature as leaders and being able to leverage that and, and use it for, you know, your different leadership experiences in the Army.
[00:44:10] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Another point of this too is the kind of the opportunities that we have to be mentors and mentees at those transition points. So, I know you were touching on this, but, like, for instance, the first day that I arrived in Oxford, Dane VanDwaal and Hayley Watson helped me bring my stuff into my flat. They showed me around the good parts of Oxford, and throughout that first year, Dane was just providing so much information to help us transition.
On the back end, he's, you know, out in the force in the operational army now, and he's still doing his role to, you know, provide that information and lead within that transition period. So, it's been really great to not only share, you know, the, the GSP knowledge and the application knowledge, but also the experiential knowledge of now we are moving across different countries and having people to rely on to help us through those, those intense processes.
It's been really nice. That
[00:45:03] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: long gray line,
[00:45:04] 1LT Evan Walker: literally. And even like when I was doing my internship for this final project of this degree, I was with, um, Department of Homeland Security. And so I got to meet with Jen Easterly, uh, who's the director of CISA. I was like, ma'am, I know it's been a minute, but like, how are you feeling when you were leaving Oxford and going back to intelligence?
And she was like, yeah, I was nervous, but like. I loved it. And you're gonna love it. And we just sat and talked about like all the growth we had, all the readings we got to do at the time at Oxford. So even then, like, you know, her just taking the time, super busy woman, to speak with me. It was awesome.
[00:45:40] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Um, Director Easterly was one of the first.
champions of the XH cohort as far as creating this course and pulling that together. And she's one of the individuals that I leaned on when I was first coming into that leadership position in the scholarship program of trying to think about how We can have, you know, some pull from our past, some things that we should try to pull through throughout the course that we've leaned on in the past and then leaning forward as well and trying to make sense of how to best develop you all, right, in different scholarship program cohorts to be ready to go out and lead and make the most of these experiences.
So it's, it's really awesome to see scholarship winners and faculty members and who have. Help develop the faculty as well so that we can make the most of this program. So if we could touch a little bit on, you know, you talked about your studies, if we could touch a little bit on your experiential learning, and that could be in or out of the classroom.
And so maybe internships or different ways that you volunteered your time. So things that you've done to really develop the whole self while at, while at Oxford for this Rhodes Scholarship.
[00:46:52] 1LT Evan Walker: Yes. Yeah. So right before going to Oxford, I actually interned with the Arment Talent Management Task Force in the G1.
And that was like a really awesome experience to go kind of off ramping from West Point and preparing to go into the sociology degree. So having that mindset and understanding like. How our organization is approaching those problems going into sociology really helped me and actually those connections is what began the like snowball sampling that I used for the qualitative piece of my thesis for that degree.
[00:47:26] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Like a context for the work that you're doing and thinking about how that matters for the army so you can tether your work to army problems.
[00:47:34] 1LT Evan Walker: Exactly, because I think going into the experience, making sure that it's using these two years to help benefit the organization and myself when I come out back going to be an intelligence officer, it's just like making sure that the time is contributed towards it, right?
I don't want to just do something to do it. I want it to be worth something and useful to the organization. And so that was the one internship that I had that I really enjoyed. And then. This past summer, like I mentioned earlier, I got to be with the Department of Homeland Security and the, it's a very long name, prepare yourselves, Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans with the Counter Transnational Organized Crime team.
And so I just got to see like DHS policy specifically around crimes of exploitation and human trafficking and forced labor, as well as child sexual exploitation. And so to be able to see from a different government agency, how they partner with Department of Justice, how they partner with DOD on like counter narcotics, it was just really.
interested to see, I think, service in a non military fashion. You know, it wasn't like I was seeing a lot of green suitors.
[00:48:32] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: It intersects with military too.
[00:48:34] 1LT Evan Walker: Yes. Yeah. And so like seeing true civil servants and just how everything works together and how it's all connected, I think was super awesome. And then especially going back, you know, back to the organization, seeing how the Department of Defense handles and supports these other agencies.
And so our role is not only, you know, Is national defense, but I think inward just as much as it is outward. Found so many forums. Yes, yeah, so those were I think the two big internships and like outside of academics that I really had different perspectives.
[00:49:07] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: You have, you spent some of your most impactful time at Oxford.
[00:49:11] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Yeah, for me, the summers were, were just like an incredible time to sort of design it towards some of the personal and leadership development goals that I had set up for myself. And so my first summer here, I, I, attended a leadership retreat, uh, hosted by an Oxford organization called the Ex Oxford Character Program.
So very GSP like, so to speak. And it was, yeah, it was incredible just being able to, as Evan kind of mentioned, see public service and see leadership outside of a military context and to share, uh, again, with vulnerability about how we're facing these challenges as either current or future. Servant leaders, I think was just so impactful for me and understanding that leadership doesn't necessarily have to be confined to specific contexts, but that the context that we're in, we can shape.
And so a lot of that did inspire me moving into the next year to start coaching for a high school team in the local area. And part of this had to do with another kind of experience that I struggled with transitioning to Oxford, which was just. Redefining myself as an athlete, having been a team captain at West Point and participating in track and field for 11 years, leaving that behind was a bit difficult, but again, just being involved with the summers at Oxford just provided me the space and time to craft towards competing in a lot of long distance charity races and then reminding me that not only personal challenges is good for my growth as an individual but also as my growth as a leader and so I kind of look forward to not only continuing to coach within whatever context that I'm situated in as a military intelligence officer or a coach on the side but also just seeking pathways and opportunities to challenge myself.
And so that's kind of inspired me to pursue opportunities in the Ranger Regiment down the line. So I attribute a lot of the, kind of, the space and time that Oxford offers as, you know, really, really redefining the, the path forward for me as I look forward to the Army
[00:51:13] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: officer. Really awesome. So you've touched on it a little bit, but I think a great way to, to conclude this episode is to reflect a little bit on the past.
Right. Four years at West Point, two years at Oxford, and now the future coming up. So asking you to maybe do a little mini version of what you did for your scholarship competitions, right? So here you've had this wonderful experience that's really been transformative in many ways. And now how do you envision taking that and applying that to your leadership going forward?
Right. So how do you envision these really elevating your leadership capabilities, um, and capacities throughout your Army careers. I think like
[00:52:00] 1LT Tyrese Bender: any good and difficult question, it's hard to parse through all the complexities and offer a concise answer, but I'll do my best. I think it was a long four years at West Point and it was a long two years as well at Oxford, but I think the lessons that those years really taught me was just to remember how important it was to not only understand and communicate complexity, but also to do so in a matter that is interpretable and motivating for the people that's in your organization.
Because as Evan mentioned earlier in this episode, it all boils down to people. And I think that not only the four years at West Point, taking, you know, philosophy classes, physics classes, engineering classes, but also going through GSP and reflecting. And then again, at Oxford, being challenged intellectually, being challenged in our interpersonal relationships to widen our perspective.
just makes us confront complexities and contexts in their raw form and being able to communicate them in a tangible format to people whose lives that they impact, I think is the sticking point for me from the past six years and what I hope to bring forward and continue to grow upon as I become an officer in the military intelligence field and having to communicate very complex Geopolitical circumstances to leaders and the way that they're impacting national, subnational context I think is very important.
So I cherish the experiences, the mentorship that I received in order to prepare me for the next few years.
[00:53:27] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Awesome, Tyrese. What
[00:53:28] 1LT Evan Walker: about you, Evan? Just like the importance of continuing to learn. And wanting to learn, whether that's learning about the organizations you're a part of, learning about the people that you're interacting with, you know, like that is what creates connection and the ability to motivate and inspire, right?
Uh, learning about the area, like where you're going, you know, like, I think from these last two years at Oxford specifically is that I've been able to see the broader context of a lot of things with the international relations, the politics, education, you know, like academically, but then also just being able to, I think, pay more attention to what's going on in the world.
Like so much has happened in the last few years. And like, I think every single day, especially in this last year with this last program, like a case study, we're like, Hey, we're learning about. You know, bureaucratic split, look what's going on in the UK right now with their government, you know? And so it's just, I think just being able to continue to open your mind to just collect all this information while also making sure you have the time to reflect on it, which the last few years with GSP at, uh, at West Point really helped the time that we've had at Oxford has really helped.
And so taking in information, processing it so that you can better have the best actions or responses to those stimuli that you're encountering, I think has been the biggest thing. So yeah, cultural context, I think, is just going to matter so much when we're going back and just being able to communicate kind of like what's going on and maybe like why we're doing this.
You know, soldiers might not know why we have to do some specific task, but if you can explain, well, this is going on here and our boss said this. as a response to this. So that's why we're doing this. And that's why it matters. That's how you motivate people. That's how they're going to be like, Oh yeah, okay.
Hopefully, you know.
[00:55:12] MAJ Renee Sanjuan: Yeah, right, right, right. Yeah. At least to try to make some better sense of it. And some things that I'm taking away from what both of you said is that you've learned these skills, you've refined skills, right? And so whether that's communication, understanding the translation of complex information, These are things that are iterative, right?
And that you don't just do it once and then you're suddenly good at it. You need to continue to practice and work on those skills in so many different contexts. And another thing that, that you made me think of is that our Dean, General Reeves, often says that we want to education. We really want to build lifelong learners.
We want to inspire people to be lifelong learners. And so it's not just about learning when you're at West Point. It's not just about learning when you're at Oxford. It's about learning for the rest of your lives. And if you can have that hunger, that insatiable hunger for learning, then that's something that you can bring forward and hopefully inspire in, in everyone that you work with.
So it's inspiring to me, you know, just personally to hear your stories and to see how you're doing and how far you've come over these past two years. It's really incredible. I mean, that last question that I really put you on the spot. Everything online is information! Any questions, thoughts, anything else come to mind as we move ahead?
So really well done. Super proud of you. We all are. And, um, you know, the program and West Point's always going to be here for you, for you to be able to lean on, whether it's at West Point proper or the alumni organization. So thank you for taking the time. I know, Tyrese, your household goods are literally being packed up as you head back to the States.
You know, you guys are even in different time zones right now. So, um, really incredible. Thank you for taking the time. And it was, it was awesome catching up.
[00:57:00] 1LT Evan Walker: Thank you for having us, ma'am. It was awesome.
[00:57:03] 1LT Tyrese Bender: Yeah, thank you for this opportunity. It was really fun.
Narrator: Thank you for listening to the WPAOG Broadcast Network. Please take a moment to rate and review the show, and join us each week for a new episode. Thank you for listening.