Academy Cadet named student leader of the year

  • Published
  • By Leslie Finstein
  • Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  The Air Force Academy develops leaders of character; and this week, one future leader was recognized for being the best in the state.

Cadet 1st Class Megan Hoskins was named Colorado Leadership Alliance Student Leader of the Year by the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation and the Boettcher Foundation.

Cadet Hoskins, Cadet Squadron 10, will received the award at the 2011 CLA Luncheon in Denver on Tuesday. Each year this event brings together more than 700 business and community leaders from across the state to recognize the collegiate leaders of the Colorado Leadership Alliance, in addition to raising funds for program support of the CLA.

A graduate of Dallas' prestigious Hockaday School, Cadet Hoskins is a leading member of the Academy's Center for Character and Leadership Development's CLA club. After graduation, the economics major with a French minor will train to be an intelligence officer at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas.

"It was definitely a huge surprise -- there are so many students in the CLA doing such phenomenal things in their communities, and for the world, so I feel like I'm joining ranks with some really incredible people and it's a huge honor," said Cadet Hoskins on receiving the award.

"The real award for me, though, has been the privilege of working with the students I've met through the CLA and the Student Scholars Board," Cadet Hoskins explained.

"They're an amazing group of people who truly are going to change the world, and I'm excited to see where we all end up in 10 years because the impact they'll have will be pretty epic."

During this academic year, Cadet Hoskins planned and executed the 4th Biennial Colorado Leadership Alliance Invitational in October 2010, hosting 38 students at the Air Force Academy for a two-day seminar on visionary leadership. She is planning to conduct a similar seminar for local high school students April 29-30.

Further, she created a charity partnership among her classmates to help the homeless in Colorado Springs - rallying her squadron mates to raise more than $4,000 in a donation drive. She has been recognized on the Academy's Dean's and Commandant's list every semester of her cadet career, and she was hand-picked to lead more than 3,000 students as summer cadet wing commander, among other accomplishments.

"Cadet Hoskins is the most professional and competent cadet I have worked with in more than 10 years at the Academy," said Major Sheilagh Carpenter, of the Commandant of Cadets staff, who nominated Cadet Hoskins for the award. "In addition to completing all that is required of her as a cadet, she takes on extra projects and opportunities to further her own and others' professional development. She is a master at enabling others to realize their potential."

"Some cadets excel in academics, others in athletics, still others in military performance or people skills. Rarely do you see a cadet who excels in all areas. Megan is the whole package," Carpenter added.