<strong style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, serif; font-size: 12px;”> Is professional reading an essential element of self-development? Is a leader who reads constantly better than one who does not?<span style=”color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, serif; font-size: 12px;”> </span>

Along with many other cadets who have commented, I also find it very hard to squeeze in professional reading. However, I think its essential for us to develop of leadership in some way that suits our personality and learning style. In my case, it is easy to never think about reading for pleasure or professionally. This is largely a result of teachers throwing more reading assignments down our throats than we can possibly handle. However, this is also a hidden benefit as many of the assignments discuss topics that can correlate with being a good leader and prominent social issues. Nearly all of my free time comes at the end of the day close to when I’m about to go to bed for the night. As a result, I usually find myself watching TV and falling asleep to it. If I were to open a book around 10pm I would feel stressed out and definitely not relaxed. This brings me to my main point- everyone learns in different ways most effectively. The tricky part is navigating our busy schedules and commitments in order to find time for self-development. In my case, I can replace watching Family Guy, The Office, and Narcos with something more informative on current issues and different schools of thought. It is our responsibility to recognize and develop the ways we learn best. If I’ve learned anything in ROTC, one of the key lessons is squeezing every second out of every day. Let’s face it, were all extremely busy and saying that as an excuse for why we’re skipping personal development is not valid. Just like we do in PT, we have to use every available minute for our benefit. Online articles serve as an important outlet that I try and improve myself with. I prefer the Wall Street Journal when I’m on the go and only have a few minutes to familiarize myself with a topic.