{"id":203851,"date":"2026-03-14T00:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T00:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/203851\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T00:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T00:55:07","slug":"miners-leadership-summit-inspires-utep-students-through-leadership-and-networking-the-prospector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/203851\/","title":{"rendered":"Miners Leadership Summit inspires UTEP students through leadership and networking\u00a0 \u2013 The Prospector"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Feb. 27, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) hosted\u00a0the Miners Leadership Summit, a one-day,\u00a0in-person event aimed at strengthening students\u2019 resilience, career\u00a0readiness\u00a0and leadership skills.\u00a0The event\u00a0featured keynote speakers, breakout sessions\u00a0and networking opportunities, providing\u00a0a space for both professional and personal growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Classes and auditoriums in the Undergraduate Learning Center (UGLC) were packed as students attended various sessions and heard from speakers including Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Chandi Dayle, UTEP President Heather Wilson and retired U.S. General David Goldfein.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Learning about other leaders and what shapes them can\u00a0help\u00a0prepare\u00a0students\u00a0to\u00a0leaders themselves. Sophomore accounting major Kaitlyn Carvalho\u00a0said she\u00a0enjoyed her time at the summit because she has always been interested in the life stories of successful individuals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m someone who personally finds others\u2019 insight incredibly valuable,\u201d Carvalho said. \u201cHearing about other people\u2019s experiences allows me to broaden my perspective and broaden the way that I can handle situations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Goldfein spoke to students on discovering his life\u2019s purpose,\u00a0defending the country and its\u00a0citizens,\u00a0while\u00a0reflecting\u00a0on\u00a0his tenure\u00a0in the U.S.\u00a0Air Force. He described leadership as\u00a0both\u00a0a gift and a continuous journey\u00a0and\u00a0emphasized that a good leader understands the needs of the people around them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson and Goldfein, co-authors of\u00a0the book\u00a0\u201cGet Back Up: Lessons in Servant Leadership,\u201d\u00a0also\u00a0shared the stage to talk about overcoming fear and\u00a0perseverance, not\u00a0only\u00a0as\u00a0leaders\u00a0but also as\u00a0individuals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou miss 100% of the shots you don\u2019t take,\u201d Wilson said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>University of Texas at El Paso President Heather Wilson speaks with retired U.S. Air Force Gen. David Goldfein during the Miners Leadership Summit on Feb. 27 in the Undergraduate Learning Center at UTEP. (Iziah Moreno<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Throughout the summit, leadership was\u00a0described\u00a0as something that\u00a0must\u00a0come from within\u00a0rather than\u00a0simply\u00a0from holding\u00a0a position of authority. While\u00a0someone\u00a0may carry\u00a0the title\u00a0of\u00a0\u201cleader,\u201d\u00a0effective\u00a0leadership\u00a0requires\u00a0more than a title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Juan Saldana, a senior\u00a0political science\u00a0major, attended the summit because he believes\u00a0leadership\u00a0skills are both\u00a0valuable both inside and outside the workplace.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that leadership development is essential to how we approach life and what our philosophy of life is,\u201d Saldana said. \u201cNo matter what leadership style we hold, I believe that having the privilege and the opportunity to work with others, to lead them towards a goal, is something\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0not going to go away after a college career. So,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0really important\u00a0to develop, not just the skills, but the right mindset to approach certain situations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saldana views the summit as an annual event that is preparing him for a future career in politics, where he believes his actions could have a significant impact on people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that being prepared and knowledgeable about whatever you want to address in such a demanding career is so necessary because our actions lead to consequences, and those consequences can change someone\u2019s life. Attending events like this one is an opportunity to prepare myself more for that,\u201d\u00a0Saldana said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Chandi Dayle speaks to students during the Miners Leadership Summit on Feb. 27 in the Undergraduate Learning Center at the University of Texas at El Paso. (Iziah Moreno<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Freshman\u00a0business major Jorge Mireles\u00a0said he\u00a0initially\u00a0went to the summit to earn extra points in\u00a0one of\u00a0his\u00a0classes.\u00a0However, he said that by the end of it, he gained valuable advice,\u00a0including learning not to let\u00a0doubt\u00a0stand in the way of\u00a0pursuing opportunities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The summit\u00a0has\u00a0introduced\u00a0Mireles\u00a0to a different side of student\u00a0engagement\u00a0on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard that this event is important for the school, so I feel that in a way participating does connect me with it more as well as the student life,\u201d Mireles said. \u201cI would say it is important to come and take advantage of all the opportunities that they give us, because if [UTEP] wants something, it is to see us succeed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although attending the Miners Leadership Summit\u00a0can be\u00a0part of making the most of\u00a0the\u00a0college experience, its impact\u00a0can\u00a0extend\u00a0beyond academics\u00a0and\u00a0influence\u00a0students\u00a0long after graduation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brisa Silva is a contributor and may be reached at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Feb. 27, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) hosted\u00a0the Miners Leadership Summit, a one-day,\u00a0in-person event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-203851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}