GMC News

GMC Prep grads gain work experience through Executive Leadership Program

Georgia Military College gives Prep School graduates work experience in Executive Leadership Program

This summer, seven Georgia Military College Prep School graduates participated in the Executive Leadership Program (ELP). This is a paid fellowship for newly graduated GMC Prep School seniors to give them valuable work experience, and a chance to see the inner workings of the institution as a whole. Various departments throughout Georgia Military College request an ELP worker, then those candidates are placed with the best fit for not only them, but their managers.

“The Executive Leadership Program is a win-win for our institution and for our graduating seniors from the Prep School that are selected to participate in the summer program,” said Jill Robbins, Vice President of Human Resources at Georgia Military College. We are not only giving these deserving students an opportunity to view the organization from the inside-out, but we are also giving them real-world working experience. Most importantly each year we continue to cultivate a relationship with seven seniors from the graduating class and hopefully they are taking away that the faculty and staff here are a resource for them to utilize at any point in their pathway forward in life.”

This year the Executive Leadership Program placed students in the Engineering Department, Resource Management, Athletics, Human Resources, and the Commandant’s Office in the Corps of Cadets, giving them valuable experience they can take into their college careers and adult life. This summer’s participants included Nick Flynt, Jacob Bright, Tyler Rion, Mary Elizabeth Jones, Kaylon Farley, Kelsie Farley, and Arleda Lawson.

For each of the ELP workers, they say their experiences this summer at GMC will help them get a head start on work experience that will help them get a job after college. For Kaylon Farley, he already has an idea of where he’s going. He has chosen a career path in the Coast Guard. In August he’ll be attending one of the United States Coast Guard Prep Academies.

“I was beyond excited to be working in the Commandant’s Office this summer,” Kaylon Farley said. “I felt at home because this institution has done so much for me, but I was able to see how much goes into running an institution like GMC and how every department contributes to its success. Having this summer experience will look good on my resume and also gives me an idea of what kind of career I want to go into in the future.”

Mary Elizabeth Jones says this experience has opened her eyes to how much effort goes into running a department collectively.

“I worked in the Athletics Department this summer and expected it to just be a gym per se, but it’s a lot more than I thought, from scheduling coordination to building a web pages,” Jones said. “I’ve used the gym at GMC numerous times but never realized how much went into running it like a well-oiled machine. Even the in the smallest of jobs, you have to have good communication, and if you respect your job’s worth and practice good communication, your department, business, or corporation will flourish.

On Tuesday, July 10, Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell, IV, President of Georgia Military College, presented each ELP worker with a completion certificate, as well as a GMC coin, in thanks for the great work everyone has put in this summer.