Class of 2025: Cadet Regan Goger turns hard lessons into leadership opportunities
Name: Regan Goger
College: College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
Major: Political science
Plans after graduation: Commission into the U.S. Army as a field artillery officer
Favorite course and professor: Foreign Policy and Diplomacy with Robert Hodges. “He thinks about the impacts policy and diplomacy will have on people who are in the corps.”
Favorite memory: The formal mentor relationship she’s had with two cadets. “I’ve been able to watch and help them grow and develop. They're both passionate and they both work hard.”
An unconventional path
When Goger walks across the stage at fall commencement, she’ll carry with her more than a degree in political science. She’ll bring deployed military experience, lessons learned from setbacks, and a commitment to lead with honor and sacrifice.
Though Goger’s journey to becoming the 1st Battalion executive officer in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets was unconventional, it helped shape her into the leader she is today.
Strength from an unusual start
Goger’s decision to join the corps came after she had enlisted in the Army National Guard and deployed to Kuwait for a year as an intelligence analyst.
Satisfied with the experiences and responsibilities of her enlisted role, Goger was initially unsure about joining the corps when she applied to Virginia Tech. But an officer and mentor in Goger’s National Guard unit pointed out her potential to make a difference as an officer. “That's why I stuck with the cadet path,” said Goger.
Goger’s prior service gave her a unique perspective on campus, but it also posed challenges. “It was pretty hard after deployment to get back into the college mindset,” she said. “I had just done something so different, directly helping people and seeing the second and third order effects of the things that I was working on.”
The shift made Goger’s first two years as a student challenging, but those struggles taught her resilience. “I’m proud of how I’ve worked hard since then to redeem my academics.”
Goger has since grown to appreciate how her studies can help her executive decision-making. “Knowing history, especially going into the military, is important," she said. “To know why at some point a course of action was thought acceptable, and to learn from those historical mistakes so you don’t repeat them.”
Goger’s experience as a cadet has similarly sharpened her critical thinking as a leader. “Being in the corps has definitely made me question both sides of an argument rather than just agreeing with something on a surface level,” she said. “If there’s an effective way to train, we still ask, ‘Is there a more effective plan to do this, to maximize people’s time and resources?’”
Leading with integrity
“I made a pretty big mistake freshman year,” said Goger, acknowledging that she set herself apart at times because of her military experience. “I missed opportunities to learn from my fellow cadets, and I missed opportunities to help them learn from me.”
Reflecting on that eventually changed her approach. “Just because you’ve done something already doesn’t mean you can’t help someone else who hasn’t done that thing. Now, if I know I can help someone with something, I'm going to help them.”
That philosophy reflects two of her favorite values etched into the Pylons: honor and sacrifice.
“When you’re an honorable person, doing the right thing, people will be willing to follow you for that,” she said. For Goger, doing the right thing included sacrificing her smooth path to graduation to help others on their way.
A mindset for growth
From platoon sergeant to executive officer, Goger has embraced roles that tested her adaptability — though sometimes with help.
In the fall semester of her junior year, Goger excelled as a platoon sergeant. U.S. Navy Senior Chief Kim Ford, senior enlisted advisor for 1st Battalion, approached Goger about serving as the battalion’s executive officer.
At the time, Goger thought, “I don't need another formal leadership role to be a leader or to help people out. I'm just going to do my part in the corps, keep my head down, and graduate as the best person I can be.”
But when Ford said Goger would regret missing the experience, Goger knew that was probably true.
"With only a semester remaining here, she stepped up and took on the second largest role in 1st Battalion during a grueling semester in the corps,” said Ford. “Her hard work and tenacity are testaments of her commitment to her fellow cadets."
