Next-Gen Strategists: Inside USF’s Student-Led National Security Conference

What does it take to become a national security strategist in today’s complex global environment?

In this episode of the GNSI “At the Boundary” podcast, we spotlight the next generation of leaders shaping the future of national security, intelligence, and global strategy. The episode features guest host May Birch of the USF Future Strategist Program. Her guests are fellow FSP student Michael Dileonardo, Catherine Wood a student of the University of Texas in Austin, and Connor Devanney a student of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. All of them will be part of the student led portion of the upcoming GNSI 2026 International Security Experience, titled: “Shadows and Circuits.”

This conversation explores how students are tackling real-world geopolitical challenges, from cybersecurity and intelligence to quantum security, policy development, and global conflict resolution.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in careers in national security, international relations, cybersecurity, intelligence, or defense policy.

Links from the Episode:
• GNSI International Security Experience

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GNSI on YouTube

At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

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Transcript

SPEAKERS

Jim Cardoso, May Burch, Michael Dileonardo, Connor Devanney, Catherine Word

Jim Cardoso  00:00

Jim. Hello everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of at the boundary, the podcast from the global and national security Institute at the University of South Florida. I'm Jim Cardoso, Senior Director for GNSI, and your host for at the boundary. Today on the podcast, we're going to hear from a group of students from USF and other universities who are playing important roles as our future strategist program prepares to host its second national security conference as part of GNSI 2026, international security experience. We're always excited to highlight our FSP students and their guests as part of at the boundary. We'll bring them on in the conversation in just a few minutes. First though, couple updates. Two weeks ago, GNSI Executive Director, retired Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, was selected as the next president of the Citadel Military College of South Carolina. It's his alma mater, class of 79 and he'll be taking over one of the country's most prestigious military colleges. His first day on the new job will be July 1. General McKenzie's strategic vision has set the conditions for long term success of our student focused initiatives, which are really taken off preparing the next generation of national security leaders, even as he departs the future strategies program has grown to over 80 students already, and they're taking central roles in many national security related activities at USF, as an example, four of them just presented research related to nuclear policy to the audience at GNSI Tampa Summit. Six, many FSP students are also taking advantage of our mentorship program, connecting them with distinguished and senior research fellows for one on one, mentoring by some of the most talented practitioners and researchers in the country. We're sending students out for experiential opportunities as well. This summer, four students will attend the prestigious international security and intelligence program for a month in Cambridge. GNSI is also bringing a DC experience back to USF as six students head to Washington, DC for a week in May, the students will immerse themselves in the heart of the country's national security enterprise, learning, connecting and building future career pathways. And in just a couple weeks, we'll be hosting teams of students from across the country for a one of a kind undergraduate strategy competition. Teams from Georgetown, Arizona, state, Duke Texas, Central Florida and many others will be here, as well as two teams from universities in Poland. This momentum in GNSI, which general McKenzie was so integral in developing, will roll on, building upon his vision as the founding executive director of the global and national security Institute. Okay, it's time for a featured conversation today, as we open up the microphones to our talented students, may Burch, no stranger to our at the boundary audience will take the lead in the conversation. She was the founding president of the future strategist program and is currently the group's event coordinator. She's playing a vital role in developing their academic conference that will be part of our 2026 international security experience, April, 14 through 17th here at the USF Tampa campus, still room to attend. It's an in person event only, but registration is required. May will be joined today by fellow FSP member, Michael de Leonardo, who was one of the four students that presented their research at GNSI Tampa Summit. Six also joining us today will be Kate wood, a student from the University of Texas, and Connor Devaney from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, just across the state from us. Take it away. Meg,

May Burch  04:09

can we please go around and just give very brief introductions, maybe just your name, your year, and what you're studying. We can start with Michael, yeah.

Michael Dileonardo  04:16

My name is Michael. I am a senior at University of South Florida, studying international relations and intelligence studies.

May Burch  04:23

Perfect Connor, can you go next please?

Connor Devanney  04:26

Yes. I'm a junior at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and I'm studying global conflict studies with a focus in cybersecurity and intelligence.

Catherine Word  04:33

All right, go ahead, Kate. My name is Catherine, or Kate. I'm a junior at UT Austin, and I study international relations and psychology with a focus on national security.

May Burch  04:45

Hi. My name is May. I'm a senior at the University of South Florida, and I'm studying international relations with a concentration in Legal Studies. Okay, to kind of start us off, I want us to go around and talk about what each of our positions at the student conference are, and. And what that entails. Can we start with you?

Catherine Word  05:02

Kate, yeah, so I'm going to be a moderator at the privacy, security and human rights panel, and for me, that entails asking the panelists questions, prepping questions beforehand, and just making sure the conversation goes smoothly.

Connor Devanney  05:20

Similar as a Kate, I'm going to be a panel, a moderator for one of the for the panelists, the panel I'll be working on is the future of technology, security and intelligence. Very excited about it. My main role as a moderator is going to be similar to Kate, phrasing questions, taking questions from the audience, and just promoting a great conversation.

Michael Dileonardo  05:43

And then, yeah, Michael, I will be the moderator for the quantum panel again. Well, I guess last year I was a student policy presenter, but this year I'll actually be moderating the panel, which is interesting because it's, you know, a challenge for sure, complex topic, but always excited for it.

May Burch  06:00

And what made you all decide to participate in the Student Conference? If you could start us off?

Connor Devanney  06:04

Connor, yeah, I previously participated in the conference. Last year, I was a moderator for the zero trust and critical infrastructure panel, and I had a phenomenal time. Public speaking is something that I've always wanted to get more into, and it just seems like a great opportunity to be a part of a really interesting and relevant conference, especially the student led aspect of it very It spoke very highly to me

Catherine Word  06:30

and UK, yeah, I agree with Connor. It's always great to find more opportunities for public speaking, and it's so difficult to find ones where you can do that as a student, especially in this context, to be moderating a panel as an undergraduate is a really rare opportunity, and something that was really exciting to me when I first heard about this opportunity.

Michael Dileonardo  06:53

Definitely the same thing in supporting my fellow students as well. You know, this is an FSP ran conference here at USF, and that's exciting opportunity for me, but it's an exciting opportunity for everybody else, too. So any way I can support and be a part of it, you know, got me really excited. And beyond just the career opportunities, it provides the resume opportunities, just being around, being with my fellow students is, you know, exciting, perfect.

May Burch  07:18

And to kind of keep with the questioning on the student conference. What do each of you hope to gain from your participation in this student conference?

Michael Dileonardo  07:27

Well, having done it before, I think you know one, I want to be more comfortable with my topic, and it's quantum security, the future of quantum so challenging myself to kind of learn more about that subject, not being too narrow with you know, what I'm interested in, obviously has nothing to do with that, but that's obviously what I'll be moderating, what I'll be a part of. So using it as an opportunity, just to broaden the scope of things that I know. So maybe it's, you know, being involved more listening more to Connor's panel or Kate's panel, which, again, might not be relevant to what I study, but just seeing what other students are interested in and seeing them take the lead on it, you know, inspires me to learn more as as does. You know, taking on a topic that I may not have already been, you know, as knowledgeable about kind of gives you an opportunity to broaden your horizons.

May Burch  08:11

Thanks, Michael, what about you, Connor,

Connor Devanney  08:15

I've got a I've got a few ones. Obviously, it's a pretty relevant panel I'm going to be a part of I'm going to get to ask some really strong professionals about some of their insights and thoughts into getting into intelligence. But on a more personal side, Dr Goodman of The panel is the head of the ISI Cambridge program, and I would love to get to meet him before I actually attend that program, similar to you may, as he did last year or last summer. So yeah, I can't wait to just get to meet all these professionals and interact with them once more. It's a very engaging and academic environment. And yeah, it's probably my favorite part of this entire semester.

May Burch  08:56

Perfect. And you, Kate,

Catherine Word  08:59

honestly, I wanted to do this, because my first instinct was, there's no way I can do that. It was so intimidating. I've had very little moderating experience. And as exciting as I think it is, it felt incredibly daunting as well. And so I would love to go through the process and come out with more confidence in my public speaking abilities. On the other side, that's the main thing I am hoping to get from this, but also just the opportunity to speak with really knowledgeable professionals in there and getting to pick their brains and just really foster a good dialog that I hope is incredibly beneficial to the audience, that'll be very exciting.

May Burch  09:41

Perfect. Thank you guys. This is probably gonna be my last question about the student conference in general. And then we can kind of switch fields into the strategy competition before joining. What were your expectations of the conference? And then now that you're involved, how is that experience kind of compared to what you initially might. Expected you can start us off, Kate,

Catherine Word  10:04

I think my expectations in reality have been pretty well aligned. I thought there'd be a lot of good communication, which there has been. Thank you, May, and I'm I wasn't expecting that practice zoom or meeting that you've set up. And so that's been really nice, because, like I said, this is a very daunting thing, I think, for most people, maybe not for you guys, but I'm definitely intimidated, even though I'm also excited. And so that was a really welcome surprise to see that there is going to be some kind of some practice beforehand so you can figure things out.

May Burch  10:40

Thank you. Kay, how about you?

Michael Dileonardo  10:42

Michael, yeah, I think having experience last year and also presenting at GNSI summits themselves, which feel a lot more pressure and daunting because it's a actual professional conference run by professionals. But I would say, you know, last year doing both, it felt very similar to me, which was really exciting. Like, wow. You know, I had this insane opportunity to present at this conference, and then now we're doing a student led one, and it feels the same way, which is, you know, an impressive remark on everybody involved. And then also, just, I love a case as well, being able to pick the brains of professionals being there, like, when you're going in, it feels so daunting and so like, scary, but then you get there, and the energy is so relaxing and so comforting, because you are students, you are undergrad or graduate level students, and everybody there knows that. So actually, you know, you end up overachieving your own expectations or people's expectations there, because you're far capable enough to do it, and that you walk away with that feeling of like, okay, wow, I'm better off than I knew I was, and I can engage with these professionals and impress myself and impress them. And I think that's an experience students need before they jump into, you know, a career, a professional career. Post grad.

May Burch  11:58

Thank you Michael and you Connor,

Connor Devanney  12:01

yeah, I'd say this time around, I feel a little more prepared and not as intimidated or nervous. I've had a few other opportunities here at riddle to present to some professionals, some foreign executives. But I'm not gonna lie. The first time around, I was sweating bullets. I have never my previous experience in some public speaking. Was back in the fifth grade, and I frozen the stage. So as soon as I sat up there, and I got in the chair, and I was looking around, realizing this is real, this is going to happen, you're kind of faced with the reality of the moment. And I think it's a great character, building an academic and professionalism, professional, I guess, building opportunity, because you really kind of find out what you're made of in that moment, and then, like Michael said, it's a very relaxing, welcoming environment. Everyone there is just is supporting you, even if you don't, if you don't know them, you know, similar to km, I'm from a different university, and this time around, there's gonna be a little more competitive undertone. Of the strategy competition, but I'm very excited, and I think it's going to be another great conference, perfect.

May Burch  13:08

Thank you guys. And before I move on to the strategy competition, I just want to say really quick that all of you guys were chosen for a reason, and I'm so very excited to watch how you guys all do in the conference. I have very high hopes and high expectations, but I'm sure you'll all meet them. Thank you. Of course, no pressure, though, right? Absolutely no pressure. Okay, so for our kind of to switch the lines, let's move to the strategy competition. What made all of you interested in competing in the strategy competition, you can start us off.

Michael Dileonardo  13:46

Michael, well, you know, the easy answer is that that's like something I've always been interested in doing as a kid, like just hearing that, you know, strategy competition, it's like, oh, wow, okay, I want to do that. But on a serious note, you know, I think it's important. I think the idea of bringing in students with different focuses to tackle, you know, I know it's graded on, you know, you have a political side, you have a military side, you have an economic side. So bringing in people that have, maybe, interest in all those things to work together to solve, you know, complex, challenging issues. Obviously, we don't know what the, you know, hypothetical strategy, you know, situation is going to be, but I think one that that exposes you to different elements of policy and of strategy, and then also it allows you an opportunity to kind of showcase what you know in a way that's a little more freestyle, you know. This is, you know, it's not a panel that the topics already chosen, or it's not a conference where the topics already chosen. This is, you know, how would you tackle this problem knowing what you know and apply to what you are interested in, I think, is, you know, that that excites me the most, be able to work with your fellow students in doing that. And like, like Connor said, you know, compete against other universities sure is awesome. And then we'll always be be there to represent, but at the end of the day, everybody's just going to get, you know, an opportunity to showcase what they're all about.

May Burch  14:58

Yeah. Thanks, Michael, and you, Kate.

Catherine Word  15:03

I love puzzles, and any opportunity to try new puzzles and work my brain in a way that hasn't been worked before is very fun, and I definitely try and seek those out. And I am not a policy person. I'm going to say that right now, like I have no experience writing policy, and so that just adds to the allure, frankly, of the competition. It's just another puzzle to be solved. And I think knowing the people that are on this team, my team already, and how brilliant they are, definitely made me more excited about joining, because just love that teamwork element in you know, multiple minds are better than one, and getting experience in something that I've zero experience in before friendly competition, all those elements are coming together to make a competition that I think is really great and I'm looking forward to immensely Perfect.

May Burch  15:56

Thank you, Kate. And finally, you Connor,

Connor Devanney  16:00

oh boy. I love an opportunity for competition and being competitive. I grew up playing sports. It's kind of one of the things that it's that little adrenaline boost of being an unfamiliar situation. And yeah, I I can't wait. But from a more academic and professional side, it's an opportunity for exceptional thinking, which is something that a lot of us here at ridilla, we're taught about. We're taught about a lot of the historical cases of, you know, strategy and getting an actual hands on opportunity to figure out what that's like and understand the career fields that we're going into and what it's actually going to be like. I myself, I'm not necessarily a policy guy. I'm more geopolitical assessment, but what I do love is building a team and getting to know all these people that I've gone to school with here, and maybe I haven't got to compete with them or actually learn what it's like to work with them, and this has provided us just a an opportunity already to meet these people, and, as Kate said, See all these kind of brilliant minds that that are around around me, and form a really cool team with them, and hopefully do some pretty, pretty Fun stuff here, this competition and win and win there.

May Burch  17:22

Had to say that. So to kind of backpedal a bit if describing this opportunity to someone who might be unfamiliar to what a strategy competition is or what it even looks like. How would you describe this and what you plan on doing? Connor, we can start with you, please,

Connor Devanney  17:44

sweet, I would either handle it in a few ways, most likely, I try to use an analogy. It's similar to the Model UN clubs that a lot of students grew up around. You're you're given a problem, you're given something that you need. Well, you have a problem area, the end goal, and you have to form the pathways and all of the the policies to get to that goal. And it's a pretty hard thing to do. You have to understand a lot of background, historical components from multiple sides. Typically these, these simulations are of a conflict, and you're trying to reach peace, and that is an insanely hard thing to do. We have, as we all know, we have multiple intelligence agencies and security agencies that employ people specifically to do this, and they do, they don't just employ a six person team. It's hundreds of people, but it's a, it's a pretty fun event, and it's gonna, it's gonna push you to think outside the box, and you're gonna feel very uncomfortable and lost sometimes, but think it's gonna be a great opportunity.

Michael Dileonardo  18:53

I think O'Connor was getting into that kind of comparison to real life, like there's, there's an ongoing conflict, there's an ongoing dilemma. And, you know, let's, let's just be honest. You know, there's plenty of those happening right now. I think, to the average student, maybe the average person that's not as interested in it, you know, they hear all the dialog on the news, or they hear all the dialog in their classrooms or professors or whatnot, and maybe have that in their own mind of like, Okay, how are we going to get out of this? Or how can we institute policy to achieve our goals. And it's fun to do that, you know, in a social setting or maybe in a classroom setting, but actually being in the chair with fellow students from you from your university, and trying to tackle that problem while being graded by real world professionals or academics, that is really exciting. And that that's, you know, that's exactly how I would compare it to somebody just like Connor said, is, imagine that was, you know, you and the chair, you know, at the Pentagon, or maybe for another country's capital, and and you have to make these decisions and analyze the situation to, you know, achieve whatever your goal is. And I think that even changes, if I'm not exactly sure for this conference, but I'm pretty sure. You know, even you decide kind of what your end goal looks like, and then how you're going to get there to achieve it to a certain extent. So that's interesting within its own right, right, different teams are going to have different kind of outlooks on what success even is, and then, you know, how efficient are they at instrumenting it? So, yeah, just drawing the parallels to real life, I think, you know, to the average person of like, how would you handle this, this situation? I imagine doing that with a team,

May Burch  20:25

with professionals. Thank you, Michael and Connor. Before I turn it over to Kate to have her answer the question as well, I just want to say I liked the analogy with model you and I think that it may not be, you know, entirely similar, but I do think for maybe a regular student, not someone that's interested in policy, or someone who even follows the news regularly, as I'm sure we all know many students don't, I think that's a good, like student brained way of relating this competition, which might be so far out of the realm for so many people to something that's very, very normalized, and you can see in other aspects of college life, because I do think that this is vastly different from what many students do, and I think it's even vastly different from my end of being into policy and, you know, trying to follow the news and being into international relations and national relations and national security. I've never heard of or been in anything similar to this. So I do enjoy your guys' little analogies and then drawing it back to the real world, obviously, as Michael said, but Kate, can you please answer the question as well? Let me know. Yeah, I really

Catherine Word  21:39

like how both of you guys described it. I think when you boil it down, it's just a logical exercise. You're taking a really complex geopolitical problem. And you know the kind of problems that you've got real professionals, and they make entire careers out of this salt. They're they're working on it at the same time, and then you're trying to develop a strategic level solution, and that can sound really esoteric and kind of like, what does that really mean? But so I think the UN example is a really good, good way of describing it, like May said, and that just ultimately, you're trying to break down what seems like this really grand, intimidating problem into a solution that is actionable and scandal. And like you all said, typically focuses on a real world issue. You don't know what the topic will be this year. This is my first time doing strategy competition, so I'm excited to see what that process looks like. And, yeah, consider multiple factors, political, economic, military, diplomatic, and definitely fantastic way to model what senior leader how senior leaders approach decision making. Because, like you said, it's one thing to sit in your living room with all your friends and talk about how everyone's doing everything wrong, and another to be put in that position, and have to go through those issues yourself and come with that with a coherent product, product at the end.

May Burch  23:09

Thanks, Kate. I think Michael liked that last bit to kind of add on to that as well. I think it's interesting to see. I talked to one of the GNSI members about this. I think it's interesting to see, because I think part of it is almost like you have to calculate the amount of risk or the amount of damage you're willing to take. So let's say your threshold is like a 50% risk, right? Like every team is going to have a different strategy based off how much risk they're willing to take, and everyone's calculations for that will be different. And I think that's really interesting is that you could have very brilliant people with the same backgrounds and the same education, and they would still come up with completely different outcomes and like, what would be an acceptable amount of risk for the government to take in these policy recommendations. So I think that's really interesting. I'm really excited to see what everybody comes up with, and I will be cheering all of my panelists on throughout the competition. Because, you know, since I chose you guys, you guys have to make it to at least the white paper around. Oh, geez. My next question, what has been the most challenging part of preparing for the competition? Connor, you go first.

Connor Devanney  24:26

Yes, I think it's it would be a lot harder if we didn't have such kind of prepared professors here at Embry Riddle, we have two professors kind of tutoring us, not going to give away too much information here.

Michael Dileonardo  24:42

So information here.

Connor Devanney  24:44

Please. Let me go. Let me go. Pull up my my files. Now, it's a pretty ambiguous question. You know, a strategy competition. What does that even mean? You know, what are we going to do? And I'm. Since my freshman year, we had an in class project about a certain conflict, and I really enjoyed that. And I was like, oh, okay, cool. This is, like, the model you win. So I kind of relied on some of my previous academic opportunities to be like, okay, we can do this. It's nothing too scary, even though it sounds so complex and multifaceted and just high level, but honestly, just relying on my professors and also the people around me, kind of like Katherine said earlier, we all, we all like puzzles, so it's something that we all necessarily were fresh going into. Didn't know what we were getting into, but we all like to solve puzzles. So yeah, I think just having a good critical thinking group around me and some great professors leading us kind of helped us get a lot better prepared than I would have been.

May Burch  25:54

Thank you, Connor. Go ahead, Kate.

Catherine Word  25:57

Yeah, like Connor said, strategy competition is just so vague strategy of what you mean, we get the prompt day of like, that's that's crazy. And so our the way that we've been preparing, I think the way most people prepare is less trying to cram a bunch of information about current events, historical events, and more organize our thinking in a way that when we actually get to the competition, we know what to do, and we're not overwhelmed, because we've been really lucky that we have a grad school team at the LBJ School that competes in these regularly, and they've been really fantastic mentors and have helped us a lot. And so I think just wrapping our heads around that organizational process, and actually, because it's very difficult, also to try and simulate a three day competition when you're undergraduates with busy schedules. So I'd say also, that's probably been the most difficult part, because you can, you can practice, well, we're getting, do you have this prompt, and we're going to break it down this way, and you tackle that, and I tackle this, but doing that over a more extended timeline, what still is compressed, but longer than a four hour practice that's been that's been difficult, but also very rewarding, to see how everyone's brains fits into this natural cycle and How we all begin to work together more smoothly,

Michael Dileonardo  27:23

yeah, like what Kate's getting at, you know, there's, there's the balance of your schedule and everything you have going on, and then also four or five other teammates and their life, and so, you know that that's one challenge, for sure. It's just getting everyone together in the same room and practicing consistently. But you know, and then even on top of that, like what Kate was saying. You know, there's the kind of instinct to jam as much knowledge in your head as you can, because you don't know what the subject is going to be. But I feel like I already do that every day with just geopolitics security. That's like everything I try to read about every day and stay informed in my own ways. But what I don't do every day is bounce things off five other people and try to figure out how that information can be analyzed and assessed to build a strategy and what our desired outcome is, because there's not always even agreement at the table with the five or six people you're with. And this isn't the real world. I'm not, I'm not, you know, it's not my job to, you know, compel all of us to get together and agree this. You know, we have to all feel like, okay, we all, we all like this right team. We're all, we're all good on this and and move forward together. So everyone feels, you know, happy and a part of it, you know, this is how things go, right? I mean, I don't, I didn't even know all my teammates before I was on my team. So building an interpersonal relationship on the team while also trying to understand complex geopolitical issues and prepare for a competition against schools from around the world with professionals, is like three different little challenges in one, thankfully, you know, I think we have some great minds here at USF, and, you know, I'm confident we'll do great but, like, the challenge has already begun like they're saying, you know, there's gonna be This stuff that happens day of but there's a challenge every day with within the team and world events keep changing. So it's like, what the heck could the strategy competition even be if some of these things are already ongoing? Just just makes it more dynamic in the preparatory phase.

May Burch  29:18

That's a good point. I think it's interesting to talk about how even within, you know, when you're looking at policy, when you're looking at kind of things going on in the geopolitical sphere, it's interesting how everybody has different opinions. And, you know, it could be the exact same event, but three different people could look at it differently, and could have different opinions and different outcomes. So very interesting. I think it's interesting to bring a bunch of really brilliant minds together and to see what can come out of it. So I'm really, really, really excited, but to kind of switch gears a little bit, to kind of talk about how Connor keeps bringing up how Model UN is a preparation for this, and we talked about how vague the concept of a strategy. The competition even is, Have any of you ever done anything similar to this strategy competition? Or is this like the first time you've really heard of any opportunity like this?

Michael Dileonardo  30:12

Yes, not Model UN but model NATO here at USF, we've sent teams to that conference a few times, and I had the pleasure of doing that, but it was similar in the sense, where I had teammates I'd never really met or not worked with a ton and, you know, we got, you know, certain situations going on, or certain policy situations, you know. And, okay, what does Lithuania feel about this subject? How are we going to communicate that to the different countries, the different teams, you know, from other schools, so from a team dynamic standpoint, and reaction, reacting to the event, progressing, have some experience with that, but not in the strategy, you know, military, political element that I think that this will be, this will be a refreshing new experience for me.

May Burch  30:59

Yeah, no, that's a good point.

Connor Devanney  31:01

Connor, yeah, I had some experience in my opening semester here at riddle, where we had a professor from the leaders from the Naval Academy, and we did a in class project, and it was a strategy competition. We were given a random situation. It was a conflict between India and Pakistan. And at that point I was still kind of getting into the geopolitics global conflict studies course, and that was, that was my only experience leading into it. I remember the first question I asked to my teammates, who were people from my class who I never really talked to that much. Was anyone here done Model UN because I have not. And, yeah, I think that is the only resounding experience that I have, aside from, you know, certain online games where it's like conflict simulations. That's really my only major experience.

May Burch  31:55

Thanks, Connor, it's kind of funny that you've already done this for a class. I think that's the first time I've heard somebody say that actually?

Connor Devanney  32:01

Yeah, I also I didn't even realize until when I was saying it just a few moments ago, I was like, Oh, wait, actually, I have done this before.

May Burch  32:11

That's very that's that's cool. Gives you a head above the competition.

Catherine Word  32:17

Maybe we'll see. Yeah, I like the range of experience we've got going on here, because I'm coming in with basically nothing. I went to a really small high school, so we didn't have Model UN there, and then I wasn't really compelled to join it here, because I started off as an engineering major and found my way to international relations a bit regularly. So now this is my first experience in some in a strategy competition of this kind. I have some experience writing geopolitical analytical pieces, but that's a very different beast to put policy writing, and so I'm very excited to learn a lot already through just team practices and talking to people. And this is their entire job, essentially, this is what they want to do the rest of their lives. Want to do the rest of their life. And it's interesting how I think I say I don't have any experience, but it's interesting how the experience that you wouldn't really think about helps you the most, like the team building experiences that you have in in high school and in college, I think I've been more valuable to me than any writing experience I've had. So, yeah, that's that's been interesting.

Michael Dileonardo  33:28

Okay, I'm really curious how you got into geopolitics at all, coming from engineering, like you said, irregularly, just from a just to understand, like different people, how they, you know, move into that. I'm curious.

Catherine Word  33:40

Yeah, well, I think I say that it was kind of a regular I was always attracted to, well, I wanted to be an engineer because I wanted to go to med school. And I thought that would be my ticket in I was a biomedical engineering major my first year and a half here. And then I realized the only reason I wanted to be a doctor so I could work for a miss also fontier Doctors Without Borders. It's like, well, if I want to travel, I want to work abroad, there's an easier way I could do that and still feel fulfilled. And yeah. And so then I kind of stumbled into the national security space here at UT, and loved it, loved the people, loved the opportunities. And here I am awesome.

May Burch  34:19

That's really cool. Thanks, Kate, and thanks Michael the host. Sorry, I just, I'm

Michael Dileonardo  34:25

trying to connect with you know people.

May Burch  34:27

Yeah, Kate, if it makes you feel any better. I really had no experience with this beforehand. I did do Model UN but the committee that I competed on was a bridgerton committee, so I'm not sure how much of that can be pulled over. But on the bridgerton committee, I did become the king of England and Prussia. So, you know, I feel like I won that, that bridgerton committee, pretty easily. But, yeah, no, I think it's very interesting to see how everybody's kind of from very different backgrounds. I do think obviously Connor has like. A clear cut background for this, but I think outside of Connor, this is out of left field for a lot of people, and I think that's how it is going to be for most of the students at this competition. So I am really excited to see how that goes, and to see what everybody learns, because I think this could probably be one of the biggest learning experience for students, but especially for students interested in like national security and geopolitics like this is definitely a new experience. How do you feel the entire like international security experience? So that's the conferences and the strategy competition. How do you think all of that will benefit students, considering they're trying to keep this going annually? What? What do you think students should take away from it? What advice would you give students that want to participate, and how do you think it'll end up becoming a beneficial resource for students interested in these topics? Kate, can we start with you?

Catherine Word  35:54

Please? Yeah, I'd love to start so I think first off, I mean, I just kind of gave a little spiel about my background and how I got here, not in a very normal way, like I didn't come into university thinking this is what I want to do the rest of my life. And so I think opportunities like this can really open the world of national security to an audience that would have never considered it as a viable career path for them, or even something that is a career path. And so that alone is valuable. And then I think there's the reverse. You're you're introducing this world, this fear of thinking, to an audience that can also add a lot back, you know, like you've got the engineers, I know an architect that an architecture major that's not going to work in intelligence, and that's a very unique way of thinking that is then going to lend itself to the wider community in a very beneficial way. And so it's, it's definitely a symbiotic process, I would say. And that's the very like, the beauty of education is you're learning things that you didn't even know are out there. You're widening your horizons. And so I'm very excited that this is not only a student run conference, but that it's definitely geared towards students, not just in the sorry, not just in the student run section, but it's geared towards students all around. So you have something geared towards students in practice, on the educational side, in public speaking all around it's just leaning towards making that student experience richer and deeper. And yeah, that's that. That's my spiel on that. I think it's just fantastic all the way around.

May Burch  37:33

Thanks for that, Kate. I to kind of add to that. I completely agree. I I think that there's a need for a wide berth of people from different backgrounds, people that had different educations, people with different careers. National security isn't just for your political science and international relations students. It's also for your engineers and your mathematicians. You know, it's not just for this certain cut of students. It's for anybody that really wants to get involved. And there's so many ways that you can get involved and that you can have a career in it. And so I think this is a really interesting way to bring students in, and, you know, see if they'd be interested in it, and see if maybe they can apply their own individual skills to it. So I completely agree. Kay, I'm glad that you brought that up.

Catherine Word  38:21

And can I add something really quickly? I was just thinking about it as you were talking again, it's not just in it, while it's super important, like we both mentioned that this can bring a lot of really unique perspectives into the national security, security space, in that they're trying to find new careers. It's also, I think, just a really valuable method of civic engagement, like education. In this space you talked about at the very beginning of the podcast, a lot of people don't stay up to date with the news. They don't know what's going on, and that can be because it feels really overwhelming and inaccessible. And so again, conferences like this can really break it down in a way that's manageable, and then not only ignites passion, but just makes for a more well rounded populace.

May Burch  39:07

Thanks, Kate, I completely agree, and I hope to see a lot of beautiful bonds being created at this at this competition between all of these wonderful teams that are coming.

Michael Dileonardo  39:16

Michael, I don't know. Connor sounds like he's not interested.

May Burch  39:19

He's only interesting winning.

Michael Dileonardo  39:21

That's okay, so am I, but I love what both of you guys are saying. I mean, that is critical to American national security. At the end of the day, having full spectrum, all hands on deck, you know, I could talk all day about the implications of, you know, and the strategic implications of air defense systems, but at the end of the day, I gonna need somebody who actually understands the physics of it and, you know, the engineering side of it, and all those things. So it's great to know that, you know, it's important, from an education standpoint, that we're preparing people from every field, from every subject, you know, at least some portion of them, to be able to participate in national security, geopolitics, intelligence, because we need everybody. So I love both you guys are saying that and of that. Like this provide maybe the best opportunity, at least at a university like USF, bringing in other universities from around the world, from Allied countries, from other states, you know, allows people like Kate, who, you know, there may not be someone like Kate at USF, maybe there is, maybe there's not. But because we're doing this, I mean, May, I mean in the sense that, you know, she was an engineering student biomedical engineering, and then now found her way into security and intelligence. There's only so many people like that, and events like this, you know, provide an opportunity for all of us to get together and and to learn from each other and compete as well, which I think is important as well. You know, my answer to your question would be just, students should be in situations where they're afraid, where they feel unprepared and maybe feel scared they're going to come out on the other end, better from that more confident, to take on even more challenging things. That's been my experience with GNSI and FSP at certain events, it can be somewhat humbling. You might realize areas where you need to grow, or you need to be better that you may not realized, but it may also affirm to you, like, wow. Okay, I'm actually, I actually know a lot about this, and I can get up on stage and speak about it, and then when I do it again, here's how I'm going to prepare better. And you know, I heard Connor talking about this, and saw his team doing this, man, you know what? I thought I was really great. Maybe I need to kind of learn a little bit from that and grow, because at the end of the day, at some point, hopefully we'll all be working together for our country, for what we believe in, and the fact that at this level, we're already making each other better, already having these experiences. That's what I that's how I think America, America succeeds in the future.

May Burch  41:34

Thank you. Michael ever the idealist, I think that you definitely have an interesting perspective on it as well. Since this is your second year in a row being on our quantum panel, knowing absolutely nothing about quantum. So I think it's, I think it's probably a fair point, specifically for you having to bring in that background and having people from other backgrounds come in, because, you know, we have such a struggle finding people to do quantum in national security and talk on that topic. And I think it's because sometimes national security seems like such a big, scary topic to broach, especially for these students doing quantum like, you know, they think that they can only really do hackathons, or they can only do computer science stuff, but you never realize it's actually very necessary and important in national security. And so we unfortunately have to keep relying on Michael to to sit on our to sit on our panel and teach himself some stuff about quantum before our conferences. So yes, no, if you're hearing this, please, please, please, please, quantum Students, please join FSP, okay, please join FSB. If you're willing to join, if you're willing to learn quantum, please join FSB. You're You're dearly needed.

Michael Dileonardo  42:44

I say that if Connor or Kate's team, whoever comes below the other in the competition, they have to do quantum

May Burch  42:52

next year, because we're probably gonna at this rate. We're gonna have it every year. Okay, I'm sorry, Connor, I know it took a while to get to your turn, but what would be your response to my earlier question,

Connor Devanney  43:03

I think simply enough that your career isn't going to make itself opportunities aren't going to hand themselves over to you, opportunities like these it it can be easy to look at, look at your email, get a notification about an event happening, A conference occurring at university or another university, and simply just being like, Oh, another email. Awesome. But if you really see these opportunities and take them as an event that you can you can go to, you can learn about another field that you may have not considered because we're students. We're young. I'm 20 years old. I know next to nothing about the about like careers and intelligence and what it's actually like. It's an opportunity to see what it actually is like, and also, again, nothing is going to hand itself over to you this. It's a place to network, just a place to hopefully, kind of find a job, which is a pretty important thing nowadays. Yeah, that's how I see it, and why I even took the opportunity this year and even last year, aside from, obviously, it's a great event to speak at and to meet all the other students, but yeah, especially in the geopolitical world or the intelligence careers, anything like that. If you don't want to work good governmental or if you do want to work governmental and federal government, that's not just going to happen. No one's going to randomly come up to you. Just here, here's your job application you're in. You have to, you have to take the opportunity to present yourself. And, yeah, that's, that's really how I see it.

Michael Dileonardo  44:41

Yeah, can I say one thing to that? May I love what Connor is saying, because whether it's being on quantum panel, and I don't know anything about quantum or for you guys, flying out to another driving out to another university to compete in something, saying yes to every opportunity, even if it doesn't completely make sense or feel com you know you feel comfortable with it right away. To just say yes to as many opportunities you can, as long as it's tailored somewhat to what you're interested in or what you're trying to do. I think that's the best way to grow and to get opportunities. So it's exciting to see that, whether it's Connor or Kate, different backgrounds, different interests, different places in the in the country, saying yes to an opportunity and just going for it, even it feels scary or it's far away, that's awesome. And I'm definitely, I'm proud of all of us to be a part of it, and thankful for the opportunity.

May Burch  45:25

Thanks Connor and Michael. I think that was a good tidbit right there. I would completely agree on opportunities. You know, there have been a lot of times that I thought that I shouldn't apply for an opportunity, or I shouldn't do this or that, and then I applied, I got in, and I had a world of a time, I think even back to the Cambridge International Security and Intelligence Program, I wasn't going to apply. I wasn't going to apply. And I applied the week of the deadline, and I got in and I said yes to it, and I had the time of my life. So yes, I think that this is kind of one of those things that you see the opportunity you take it upon yourself, whether it's scary, whether it's new, whether you don't think that you'll do a good job, and then you just try your hardest and you see where you end up, and you never know when you guys might win. And if you guys are win, I'll be, I'll be clapping you guys on an stage, but I do hope it is a USF team that wins, because, sorry, I have to have that some sort of loyalty to USF, but if it's one of it's if it's one of the teams with my panelists on it, you know, it's like, it's like, basically USF. It's basically USF team. Okay, Michael, like, you don't have to be upset. It's okay. It's okay. I'll cheer on you and Garrett as well. I just really want to thank you guys for being here. I want to thank you guys for all of the work that you've put in, for all of the reduced ridiculous communication you've had to put up with, because I do know I probably blow your emails and phones up, but thank you so much for coming in. Thank you for answering all these questions to the best of your ability. And I'm so very excited to meet you guys and well, to meet you in person, Kate, and to watch how you guys all flourish, both in the conference and in the competition. Thanks guys

Catherine Word  47:07

for having us.

Jim Cardoso  47:11

I want to thank our guests today, May Burch and Michael de Leonardo, both members of the GNSI future strategies program, as well as Kate wood from the University of Texas, and Connor Devaney from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. May is the primary organizer behind the upcoming academic conference being hosted by FSP, while the other three are playing key roles in the event as well. There's still room to attend this in person event, but we do ask that you complete the free registration in advance. There'll be a link in the show notes. Next week on the podcast, we're going to visit with another group of students involved in the 2026 international security experience. However, we're going to zero in on the first ever USF undergraduate strategy competition. Our guests will be a pair of USF students taking part in that competition, which will feature teams from across the country, along with two teams from Poland. The competition is modeled after the one run by the US Army War College, and is another great example of the beyond the classroom, learning opportunities we've created to prepare USF students for careers in national security. If you don't want to miss that episode, or any other episode, be sure to like and subscribe to at the boundary on your favorite podcast platform, and we do thank you for sharing some time with us today. You can find GNSI on YouTube, LinkedIn and x be sure to follow like and subscribe. Tell your friends and colleagues as well, and you should definitely check out our monthly newsletter. All this is on our website, usf.edu/gnsi,

Jim Cardoso  48:42

that's going to wrap up this episode of at the boundary. Each new episode will feature global and national security issues we found to be insightful, intriguing, maybe controversial, but overall, just worth talking about. I'm Jim Cardoso, and we'll see you at the boundary.