MURFREESBORO — A
native of Brazil, where the official language is Portuguese, MTSU freshman
transfer Barbara Popwell speaks English fluently.
MTSU alumna and guest speaker Paula Mansfield truly was
speaking Popwell’s “language” when it comes to women in the business world
Friday (April 10) during the Omicron Delta Kappa True Blue Leadership Day in
the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building.
The ODK True Blue
Leadership Day highlights the core values of the "True Blue Pledge"
by educating participants about multiple aspects of leadership. The University
Honors College invites noted representatives from a variety of professions to
share their leadership experiences with more than 100 MTSU students.
In addition to
Mansfield, other speakers included Keith M. Huber, MTSU’s new senior adviser
for Veterans and Leadership Initiatives; Tara S. Singer, executive director,
Lexington, Virginia-based Omicron Delta Kappa Society Inc.; John H. Henderson,
an attorney with the firm Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC in Evansville, Indiana; and
Metrick M. Houser, manager of supply chain for International Paper.
“I have a passion
about women speaking,” Popwell, 22, told Mansfield, a Murfreesboro resident and
senior vice president in community banking with First Tennessee Bank. Mansfield
had just shared successful strategies for women in the workforce and was about
to return to her job when she passed by Popwell in a hallway.
“She talked about
career goal-setting,” added Popwell, a management major in the Jones College of
Business. “It was very inspirational. Women want to get things done, and the
number of things she’s involved in on campus is really amazing. That makes me
want to help others.”
Mansfield serves
as the 2014-15 MTSU National Alumni Association president. Her advice also
included developing a network and understanding your strengths.
Lihe Jiang, a
visiting scholar from China in the MTSU Department of Biology and one of only a
handful of men taking in Mansfield’s talk, said he found it “very interesting,
instructive and beneficial for my career.”
Hoping to embark
on her own military career, Tiffany Graziano, 26, an MTSU graduate student in
management from Nashville, totally was taken in during the “Leadership from a
Military Foxhole” talk by Huber, a retired U.S. Army three-star general who
spent 38 years in service to his country.
“It was very
moving and inspirational,” Graziano said. “It inspired me to realize
communication is the key and to come at people at the human-interpersonal level
(face-to-face) rather than a computer or text message.”
Graziano hopes to
become an Army dietician.
A food science
major that plans to study pre-med, Nausheen Qureshi, 19, of Murfreesboro, said
Huber “gave a very unique perspective of how the military changed his life,
both as a civilian and being in the military. Leadership is part of your daily
activity.”
“What touched me
is that in being a leader, everything comes down to face-to-face human contact,”
Qureshi added.
Using movie clips
and costumes, Singer provided a special perspective for leadership with
“Starships, Ball Gowns and Hangovers: Leadership Lessons from Movies.” Famous
lines from “Star Trek,” “Apollo 13,” “Gone With the Wind,” “Flight” and “The
Hangover” were incorporated into her presentation.
Henderson
discussed “Using Passion and Civility to Make a Difference in Your Community.”
Houser, a member of the Honors College Board of Visitors, closed the event,
discussing “Building True Blue Leadership — A Reflection on Opportunities.”
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