My stint at the Academy

This past week, I had the awesome opportunity to attend the National Character & Leadership Symposium at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Seriously, it was so cool. I have never seen such a group of top-notch speakers all in one place. I took 5 students with me and we flew into Denver and then drove down to the Academy. We got in to Denver around dinner time, so we needed to have dinner somewhere. I used to live in Denver when I was in kindergarten and the only thing I remember about living there was this restaurant...Casa Bonita.

So I decided that we needed to revisit my childhood and go there. I told the students that I made no promises it was going to be good. The only things I remember about it was that it was Mexican, they had hot salsa (for a 5-year-old!), that there were cliff divers, and that there were these little flags on the tables that you raised up when you needed the waiter.

It was everything I remembered and more! Picture the Mayan doubled with a sort of ghetto version of Disneyland. It was completely awesome. Not only did they have all these things, but they had a live mariachi band, caves, and the restaurant itself was huge and quite the adventure. They even had a pirate show with a gorilla.

Anyway, the food wasn't that great at all, but it was so fun. And for a 5-year-old, it was the coolest place ever! No wonder I remembered it!

We spent 2 days at the Academy, and it was awesome. The students had a cadet escort that took them around everywhere, and they stayed with their cadet in the dorms. I did not have an escort so I was kind of lost trying to find my way around, but I managed just fine.

The Academy is right up close to the mountains and it is huge! But the part that we were actually in was fairly small. The rest was just forest and woodlands. I guess they use those areas for flying and basic training and jumping out of planes. And everything was covered in pine trees.

We ate lunch with the cadets in the mess hall, which was quite the experience. They just put a stack of plates and cups at the end of each table and drop the food off and you pretty much make your own lunch. They make the freshmen pass out all the plates and stuff and they have to serve everyone at their table. And you have to ask permission from the head of the table when you are ready to leave. And they have the Air Force logo at the top of the plate, and your plate has to always stay a certain way. They have to walk in straight lines across campus and turn at right angles. It was just so fascinating!

This is the cadet chapel. Apparently it is the #1 tourist attraction in Colorado. It was designed to look like a bunch of jets all standing up in a row. I thought it was pretty darn cool. They have 4 different chapels inside...a Protestant, a Catholic, a Jewish, and a Buddist. Seriously, it was pretty cool.

The inside was pretty impressive also. Tons of stained glass. They have a pew reserved for the MIA soldiers and POWs. It always stays empty no matter how full the chapel is. Anyone can come to worship services, and they told us that oftentimes the cadets will go off base for church. The LDS cadets go to a local ward in town, and the LDS families come pick them up at the base and take them to church.

And the walls are soundproof so you can't hear what's going on in the other chapels. In the Jewish synogogue part, they actually have stones from Jerusalem that make up the floor. So cool!

Anyway, the main portion of the conference was listening to speakers talk about character and leadership and values. And these weren't just any old speakers, they were top-notch people. I heard from the top special agent from the FBI, a 9/11 Pentagon survivor, the father of a student killed at Columbine, a helicopter pilot who was on a special mission in Afganistan, Tommy LaSorda (a big-time baseball coach), an NFL coach, the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, an Army general, and lots more. There were so many others that I wanted to hear, but I ran out of time.

And they were all phenominal! Normally I can't stand sitting and listening to lectures all day, but these were not boring people. The stories they shared were amazing. And the cool thing was that they all had awesome messages about being a good person, having moral values and integrity, and standing up for what you believe.

My students were kind of complaining about the whole thing and I just didn't understand why they couldn't see what an amazing opportunity this whole experience was. It was just so inspiring and to hear what some of these people had been through and their outlook on life was just incredible.

Honestly some of the time I felt like a little nobody being surrounded by all these great people, but I learned so much. It was kind of awkward when I was at the same table as some of these people trying to make myself sound intelligent. But I met some amazing people and had some really good conversations. I also felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb, being one of the youngest advisers there and wearing my bright pink coat amidst the sea of navy blue. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. I hope I get to go again next year.

There were these military bands playing before some of the bigger sessions. I love military bands! It was interesting how formal everything was.

But seriously, it was so inspiring to hear from these great people about how dreaming big isn't a waste, and how the little things are what makes the biggest difference, and how integrity and having values is important. I needed to hear that because lately I have been feeling kind of down on myself and feeling like nothing I did was important or mattered to anyone. I was feeling sad because it seemed like no one needed me anymore, and everyone likes to feel like they are needed. Anyway, it just opened my eyes that even though I might not feel needed and important, I am and the little things I do really do matter and that consistency in just being a good person and trying my best are what really matters.

I have such a new respect for the Air Force and the military and these other people that I heard from that I've never even heard of before. Thank you cadets for making this such a great experience for me!

In other news, we got new callings in our ward. We are the activities committee chairs and I am so excited! Our ward currently doesn't have a lot of activities and I am excited to try to do what we can to make this ward a more unified and friendly place.