莉莉Evasew, an 应急计划 and management (EPM) major at Immaculata大学, recently received the General Carl A. Spaatz奖, which is presented to cadets of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) who have demonstrated excellence in 领导, 字符, 健身与航天教育. With only 1% of cadets earning the honor, it is the organization’s highest award.
13岁时, Evasew joined the CAP’s cadet program, which is an auxiliary program funded through the U.S. 空军. It typically takes five years to complete the three basic CAP missions that include skills in 领导, 性格与航空航天. 在掌握了每一项技能之后, 埃维休的地位上升了, with a total of 16 rank promotions in the process of earning the Spaatz奖.
莉莉Evasew at the awards presentation.
In addition to the core skills, cadets can focus on an area of interest. Evasew chose emergency services and began training in search and rescue exercises. 年仅21岁, she is now a skills evaluator for their search and rescue missions and the assistant emergency services officer for the Philadelphia region. Although the positions are volunteer, she appreciates the opportunities CAP has given her, and she is eager to give back to guide others.
Evasew understands the importance of guidance. When her high school career counselor discovered that she had not applied to college, she talked to her and suggested a possible career in emergency management. When Evasew started researching programs, she was impressed that Immaculata’s 应急计划和管理 通过联邦应急管理局认证的学位, which was different from most of the other programs she was considering, 她参加了这个项目. As an EPM major at Immaculata大学, Evasew found the perfect match for her interests and career focus. What’s more, her courses are all online, which fits her busy work and volunteer schedule.
Evasew has also been working as a team leader for Pennsylvania’s Keystone State Challenge Academy, a 24-7 residential facility for at-risk 15 to 19-year-olds who have dropped out of high school or are behind on their studies. She 指出 that many of the students she works with often come from broken homes with few role models. Her job is supervising, teaching soft skills, leading and correcting behavior.
The work of Evasew and the Academy staff can be life changing. She gave the example of one student who ran away the first week. She 指出 the progress he has made since returning and was proud to point out that he now seeks out an adult to talk to. “我一直是他心目中的那个人. I talked to him for 45 minutes the other day about vulnerability and how to be a friend because he’s never been taught,”她说。.
After taking a trauma class for her EPM program, Evasew learned about adverse childhood experiences. The lessons were important because she works with children who are struggling. Connecting the classroom material to what she’s doing at work is helpful as she can see, verbalize and use that knowledge to reach the students.
作为一个年轻人, Evasew has learned to earn the respect of her peers and supervisors, who are often surprised by her age. “Often times when they’re guessing, 他们猜的是26或28, and when I tell them I’m 20–recently turned 21–they looked at me and are like ‘no way,’”她说。. She understands that success is all about how a person responds to life’s circumstances.
She has the respect of her Immaculata professors as George Schwartz, Ed.D., 领导力助理教授, 指出, “Lillian is an exemplar of the great students that we have in the EPM program: she is working full-time and going to school full-time, but still makes time to serve in the Civil Air Patrol. Lillian’s excellence is also being recognized through her induction into the Order of Sword & 今年的盾牌荣誉协会.”
以她的技术, 培训和经历, Evasew wants to pursue a job within the emergency management field doing training or community outreach or becoming an operations section chief.
“Emergency management is people-oriented,” she 指出. “我喜欢冒险. It’s a big puzzle of where things go operationally, 安全, risk management–all the different factors going into helping people and where resources need to be.”