Photo By Senior Airman Baylee Hunt | Ms. Tiffany Whitehead speaks about her experience being diagnosed with a disease and...... read more read more
RENO, Nev. (Nov 6, 2017) – The Nevada Air Guard hosted its second Leadership Summit called Thrive 2017 this past November Drill on Sunday in the Wing Auditorium.
The Leadership Summit provides tools, knowledge and inspiring words to all Airmen to build them up so they can be the future leaders of the 152nd Airlift Wing.
Chief Master Sgt. Mark Prizina, wing command chief assigned to the 152nd Airlift Wing here said, “I think anytime you have an event like this where you (Airmen) can take away several things that can make you better as a leader and a person, it’s a great opportunity.”
“All the speakers were dynamic and very interesting,” said Master Sgt. Ian O'Grady, acting first sergeant assigned to the 152nd Communications Flight.
The three speakers at the event were Maj. Donny Crandell, chaplain assigned to the 152nd Airlift Wing here, Ms. Tiffany Whitehead, speaker and survivor of an incurable disorder, and keynote speaker Brig. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck, director, assigned to the Joint Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, Arizona Air National Guard.
Each speaker had different takeaways in their presentations, but all related to being resilient.
Crandell’s presentation was on focusing your thoughts. His message to the High Rollers was that Airmen need to focus on the positive in their lives, and not let the negative past experiences in life define who they are.
Crandell said in our past there are negative experiences and if you focus on them, they can become very big in our minds. He went on to say if these thoughts are unchecked, then you will become very small.
“My very first car, 1964 candy-apple-red Chevy El Camino,” said Crandell. “My dad had this one saying, ‘Don’t let it run out of gas’; I remembered his words as I was coasting into the Quick Stop gas station on fumes.”
After Crandell filled the gas tank, and got into the car and turned the key, the car would not start. He popped open the hood of the car and poured some gasoline onto the carburetor and where it goes in the engine. He got back in the car and turned the key; it did not start but this time it was in flames.
This car fire experience had been a haunting memory in Crandell’s life. Making him doubt his intelligence. He overcame this negative experience by pursuing higher education.
“It’s all in your head, literally,” said Whitehead.
These were the opening words in her presentation. She told the High Rollers that this year in January she went to bed on a Friday night, and woke up Saturday morning hearing her eyes moving.
“So, what do you do,” said Whitehead? “You do what any rational person does, and you get on Google and you become a web MD!”
Whitehead was unable to find any information on her symptoms. She went to her doctor and they told her she has an incurable condition called Chiari Malformation Type I.
Whitehead’s doctor said, “Tiffany, you have an incurable condition called Chiari Type I Malformation.”
This disorder causes the brain to herniate out of the skull. The brain starts to descend and interfere with the signals from the spinal cord to the brain said Whitehead.
To help alleviate the pain, doctors prescribe pain killers. This sometimes can lead to an unexpected death.
“Resiliency and mental fitness is about your ability to take on these challenges and make a decision, that you can make it,” said Whitehead. She went on to say she made a decision that her four year old daughter was not going to see a sick person, but a strong woman.
Whitehead said, “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”
What brought her through the ordeal was her decision that Chiari was not her, and she was not Chiari, said Whitehead.
Whitehead’s presentation was a personal testimony of her life threatening condition, and her decision to overcome the adversity.
Muehlenbeck’s presentation was about building resilient Airmen. She used the metaphor of the greenhouse and applied it to Airmen. If you want to grow tomato plants in the desert you grow them in a greenhouse. In that greenhouse you need air, sunlight and water.
She related this to Gen. Lengyel’s message of readiness. An Airman is going to need a healthy environment with resources to grow and thrive.
“The speakers were great, they kept me engaged,” said Tyler. “I went into this thinking this is two hours of drill, but I walked away with a lot of good ideas that I want to implement as a new supervisor.”
Prizina said leadership here is planning for another Leadership event, and they are planning on making this an annual gift to the Airmen.
| Date Taken: | 11.05.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.27.2017 12:59 |
| Story ID: | 256514 |
| Location: | RENO, NV, US |
| Web Views: | 165 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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