Reflections from Our Class of 2025 Leadership and Character Scholars
The third cohort of Leadership and Character Scholars graduated from Wake Forest University on May 19, 2024. The Scholars program consists of a small group of students who are committed to developing their character during their four years at Wake Forest. As a part of the Program, Scholars receive a full scholarship to Wake Forest and participate in specially designed leadership and character development such as workshops, retreats, and personal mentoring. Before they walked across the stage, we asked them to share their thoughts about leading with character and their most meaningful experiences in the Program. Here are their responses to what they have learned during their time on campus:
Tori Cascone (’25): “To lead with character means to lead with love and to lead with humanism on your side. I think that humility and empathy towards others is so important to be a leader.”
Steven Cayea (’25): “The virtue that resonates most with me is wisdom. I just think it’s so important to reflect on your experiences and really learn from what you’ve already gone through. I also believe that wisdom helps you balance all of the other virtues and really helps bring them all together.”
Mason Goodwyn (’25): “One word that stands out to me is integrity. Just to be doing the right thing when nobody’s looking. Because I think a leader can lead in public, but you should also be able to lead in private and always have the character to be built into them no matter what they do.”
Jenna Mcclelland (‘25): “My most meaningful experience as a Leadership and Character Scholar was our group trip to Oxford and London last spring. We shared so many memories and really got to see a lot of historical places where so many of the virtues and practices we care about were born. And it was just really impactful.”
Lillie Sutton (‘25): “To lead with character means to empower and lift up those that you’re leading in order for them to begin leading themselves.”
Caroline Thompson (‘25): “My most meaningful experience as a Leadership and Character Scholar was the mentorship I received from Dr. Lamb and Ann. I formed really deep and sincere, long lasting friendships with both of them and feel like I cultivated virtue through my time spent with them.”
Wendy Wei (‘25): “I think that humility is incredibly important, especially in leadership and realizing when it’s your turn to talk versus when it’s time to make space for someone else, and when you might be making too much space for other people and not enough for yourself.”