Featured Firsties: 1/C Lauren Power and 1/C Blaise Hayden
POSTED ON: Friday, April 28, 2023 3:24 PM by mediarelations@usna.edu
Today’s Firstie Friday features the midshipmen leaders of the USNA GUIDEs, Midshipmen 1st Class (seniors) Lauren Power (Commander), and Blaise Hayden (Executive Officer). Power is from Phoenix and is a member of the 19th Company. Blaise is a native of Manhattan, Kansas, and comes from 5th Company. They are both former members of 24th Company.
As Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (SAAPM) comes to a close, we wanted to recognize the hard work of the leadership behind everything that made this month so effective. Power and Hayden have been hard at work and orchestrated events including the teal flags lining Stribling, blue rim display in the Rotunda, and clothing drives. They feel it is most important to support each other because you never know what someone is going through.
Outside of being the Brigade Sexual Assault Prevention and Response/Command Military Equal Opportunity (SAPR/CMEO) GUIDE Commander, Power was also a part of the 2023 Naval Academy Leadership Conference as a delegates officer, a member of the Navy Women's Hockey, and an Operations Research major. Her favorite memories involved traveling to Israel for an LREC, backpacking in Alaska for NOLS, and going to Belize for a mission trip. Power attributes her motivation to attend USNA based on the leadership example set by her parents and the inspiration from a high school friend, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jacob Hyde. Hyde passed away in a training accident in Camp Pendleton; Power keeps a photo of him taped within her cover as a daily reminder of why she is here.
Hayden serves as the SAPR/CMEO GUIDE XO, Cannoneers XO, and a member of the ocean engineering major. She found her way to USNA via Naval Academy Summer Seminar. Her dad, who retired from the U.S. Navy, encouraged each of her siblings to participate in the program, and Hayden fell in love with the life of a midshipman. Her parents have been a huge role in her inspiration to attend USNA and pursue a life of service. She admired her dad and how he was able to connect her family with so many amazing people. Her mother’s daily mantra to her was, “Be good, be kind, be smart!” and so Hayden reminds herself of that in everything she does.
Next month, Power will commission into the Marine Corps with an aviation contract. Hayden will commission as a Surface Warfare Officer with a Meteorological and Oceanographic (METOC) option.
Category: General Interest, Midshipman