Class of 2024: Cadet Bray Sehnert puts leadership practice into place
Name: Bray Sehnert
College: College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
Major: Philosophy and political science
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Plans after graduation: Commission as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps
Favorite Hokie memory: “What I will remember the most about Virginia Tech is the people. It's just all one big fond memory.”
Favorite Hokie tradition: "I love football games. I played hockey growing up and I grew up watching sports. Being a part of the football tradition at Virginia Tech is special.”
When Sehnert was making his college plans, he initially set his sights on the military service academies. But when his good friend Liam Garrity, a 2017 Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus, shared his experiences at Virginia Tech, Sehnert changed course to become a Hokie.
“Hearing his stories and connections and the friends he made at Virginia Tech swayed me toward coming here. Right after his artillery school, he deployed to Afghanistan, and he said the connections he made here were a big reason he felt prepared to serve. So Virginia Tech was the place to be.”
Quickly jumping into his first-year experience as a cadet at Virginia Tech, one of six senior military colleges in the nation, Sehnert realized that his success in high school as the captain of the hockey team did not necessarily matter to the cadets training him.
“I came here and realized everyone was starting all on same level,” said Sehnert.
In the years of wearing a uniform that followed, Sehnert, finishing his time in the corps as a platoon leader for Foxtrot Company, understood the need for the level playing field early in his cadet career.
“A leader should never think they are better than their subordinates, and the corps does well at emphasizing mentorship and the importance of being a team player,” said Sehnert.
Trust and confidence
While his first year in the corps focused on followership, fall semester of his junior proved the most impactful in his leadership development when he served as a first sergeant in Foxtrot Company. As the highest-ranking junior in the company, his responsibility as a first sergeant was to train his first-year cadets and ensure the discipline and daily routine of the upperclass cadets in his company.
“People say peer leadership is hard. But earning the trust of your subordinates is harder. I didn’t realize that until I got a first sergeant position here,” said Sehnert.
Connection and confidence, he said, was paramount to his success.
“If you make a genuine connection with your subordinates first, they will trust you in that leadership role. Confidence is also key. The corps provided an opportunity for me to feel out my leadership style and to practice. Showing confidence really translates to good leadership because people will inherently trust a confident leader.”
He also credits his philosophy major and his membership in the G.E.R.M.A.N Club for helping him round out his leadership skills.
“Philosophy as a major has been impactful in how I lead. The curriculum and professors in philosophy made me focus on critical thinking and my ability to reason, which helped set me up for success as a leader,” said Sehnert.
“G.E.R.M.A.N Club was also very impactful. It put me in contact with alumni and similar-minded students outside the corps and gave me additional opportunities to develop as a man and as a leader.”
Leadership applied
Sehnert is a member of the corps’ Citizen-Leader Track, which offers leadership development opportunities to cadets who are not enrolled in an ROTC program. While most cadets in the Citizen-Leader Track pursue graduate school or employment in public and private sectors upon graduation, several cadets each semester commission into the armed services through non-ROTC officer programs. Sehnert is one of those cadets, and he looks forward to becoming an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps on Dec. 20.
His journey to the U.S. Marine Corps started with his membership in the branch’s Platoon Leaders Course (PLC), which includes two intense summer training sessions at Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico. He wrapped up his latest six-week session at Officer Candidate School in August, earning the title of Marine. Returning to Virginia Tech shortly after his graduation ceremony, he began his senior year as a platoon leader of Foxtrot Company and member of the Citizen-Leader Track, where he serves as the corps’ Platoon Leaders Course (PLC) commander for cadets in that program.
“My role in the Citizen-Leader Track is unique. As the leader for the cadets in the PLC program, I have the privilege to take my subordinates and train them as I see fit to prepare them for their upcoming sessions at OCS. The Citizen-Leader Track has been more than understanding in our goals and the culture with the battalion is very understanding and provides resources for our success,” said Sehnert.
Ken Mallory, director of the Citizen-Leader Track, has been impressed by Sehnert’s professionalism, commitment, and focus.
“Bray is a great example of what we hope to produce within our leader development program. He has a true dedication to selfless service and a passion to serve his country, and his time in the corps reflects that through the leadership positions he's held and the opportunities he's pursued,” said Mallory.
