Festive Spirit

Ok, it’s been way too long since I have written on this here blog, so I thought it was about time to lay down some thoughts. As Lil Wayne puts it in Let it Rock “I’m back like I forgot something…”

Christmas is less than a week away, and not surprisingly I am lacking in festive cheer. I am not sure on the exact reasons for this, but I can speculate on a number.

Ever since I left home, back in August 2005, Christmas’ have never really felt the same. It was like a defining moment in my life with regards to the child-like excitement I was able(/allowed) to feel for Christmas. Up until I left home, I used to buy my Mum and Dad gifts, and perhaps some family members and friends, however, I didn’t feel the pressure of having to significantly impress with the status of my gift. Since then however, all I have been able to think when gift buying is “have I got this person enough to demonstrate my love and appreciation of them in my life?” Now, I believe that it is this pressure that has contributed to my declining festive cheer over the past four years.

On a side note, this is why I love writing Christmas cards so much (for those of you who were fortunate enough to receive one). Subtle, yet sweet and all the while exhibiting a love for the recipient by taking the time to handwrite a personal message.

Another major contributor to my decline for the love of Christmas is the fact that Christmas is a time to be at home with family and friends. However, the last Christmas I spent in NZ was way back in 2007. Now albeit, last Christmas was spent with my former girlfriend Ali and her family and that was an enjoyable experience in the Northeast. However, summer Christmas’ will always have a slightly more resonating effect on me just because these are what I grew up with.

Going along with this idea of not being home for Christmas is also the issue that I haven’t seen my Mum for Christmas since 2007. I have seen her this year in May when she came over for my graduation from Appalachian, however, the flights back to NZ (especially over this holiday period and travelling from the East Coast) are horrendously expensive and a plane ticket is one cannot afford on a Graduate Assistantship stipend. With some hard saving of my stipend over the next 12months I am hoping to see my Mum’s beautiful face again, and also wade in the Pacific ocean over a summer Christmas spent at home in NZ.

As highlighted in the preceding paragraph, not seeing a significant person in your life over this festive period is obviously a downer on your festive cheer. Consequently, as I result of diverging life paths, this is the first Christmas in three that I won’t be with Ali. Although my festive cheer had been declining in the Christmas’ up until now, her love for this time of the year always seemed to perk me up about the holiday spirit. Although I would verbally despise her playing of classic Christmas songs and other cheesy holiday rituals, I would secretly appreciate the fact that she would help me get in the mood for what I know is an important time of the year.

This therefore highlights my dilemma, I understand the importance of this time of the year (religiously and as a time of being united with loved ones) however, I am still struggling to find my cheer.

This Christmas for me is going to be a “non-traditional” one. My Dad and I have been planning to road trip out West for a while, to explore the final frontier of our respective U.S. adventures, before my Dad once again returns to NZ. We are going to be spending Christmas with a friend of his in South Dakota before carrying on our merry way to various other tourist sites (Mt. Rushmore, Colorado, Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas) and catching up with other friends. I am tremendously excited about the sites I will get to see and the people I will get to catch up with.

Therefore, although Christmas day itself may not be one that is stereotypical, I pose you the following question; Is spending time with my father (which has been very infrequent over the past 2 years) and visiting friends not seen on a regular basis, what Christmas is about? Perhaps this year, only once our adventure is completed, is when I will fully recognize my festive spirit.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Love Cam

New Place in Memphis

Hey Everyone

Below are some pictures of my new place right next to the UofM campus. Enjoy...

Ol' 3801 Spottswood Ave, Memphis, TN, 38111

The view from my porch. UofM Women's Soccer field in the foreground and campus in the background.

Once you walk in the front door.

Looking back the other way.

Some pictures and videos of my room.

The humble kitchen.

The laundry.

Our backyard.

Curtain Call

Over the past year I have been writing this blog for Appalachian Admissions. The objective of the blog was to give prospective Appalachian students an insight to life as an Appalachian student. However, it is this past semester that I have really brought into my task, and this is due to the fact that this semester is my last attending Appalachian. Therefore, I felt as though it was time I recognized all the influences that brought me here and exhibited my appreciation to the people who have shown me such a wonderful time.

This task I completed for Appalachian Admissions was far from tedious, as one might think. In fact I have found it a pleasure. I feel fulfilled that I have been able to publicly display my affection to those who have had such a significant impact on not only my undergraduate career but my life. Additionally, I hope by recognizing these various influences and people I have provided prospective students a positive insight to Appalachian and perhaps one that might entice them to join this tremendous family.

My blog posts over the past semester have included:

- Forget Bean-town, Belk Library is the Hub of the Universe! - How Belk Library has shaped me as a person.
- Why Am I Here? - How I ended up student-teaching at Ashe County High School in the final semester of my undergraduate career.
- The Real Football - The role of soccer in bringing me to Appalachian State.
- Do Work Son! - How giving back has enabled me to somewhat pay back ASU and its people for what they have given me.
- PETE Showed Me the Light - The significant impact the Physical Education Teacher Education has had on my educational career.
- Love of Learning - How Appalachian developed me into a lifetime participant of learning.

As a wise man once said, “all good things must come to an end,” and unlike a good journalist, I have run out of material to provide commentary on. However on the other hand, I feel as though I have acknowledged those who deserved to be recognized and I would be bluffing if continued to make pieces up. Therefore, I hope there is honesty and integrity to my thoughts.

Finally, although I may have a couple of more posts describing Appalachian, I think my time of recognizing my significant influences through this medium is over. Additionally, although my time as a blogger for Appalachian Admissions is drawing to a close, I have communicated a desire to the Admissions people that I would like to keep my blog for personal use and have it as a form of an electronic diary that I can look back on years to come. It is my hope that it will become a more visited resource for friends and family to keep up with my comings and goings while I am away from them and New Zealand.

Good luck with your future endeavors. Appalachian has been a fantastic experience for me; however, make the appropriate choice for you – “everything happens for a reason.”

Until next time, whenever that may be.

~Cam

Forget Bean-town, Belk Library is the Hub of the Universe!

A significant experience on my Appalachian career has been working in Belk Library. Although at times this work was monotonous and tedious, it is the people I met through this job that are the people I speak about when I comment that the people of Appalachian State are so wonderful and great.

Out of the eight undergraduate semesters I spent at Appalachian, I spent six of them under the tutelage of Connie Pendley, Pat Farthing, and Sue Hisle in the I.M.C. (Instructional Materials Centre) and I am spending this semester with Jack Love on the circulation desk (I didn’t work my first semester as a freshman – I was still acclimatizing myself to the United States and life as a college student.)

Since day one when I showed up looking for a job with my Trinidadian teammate, Connie and company were absolutely brilliant to me. Connie worked with my varying schedule due to athletics and other commitments and she created an atmosphere that made coming to work enjoyable. In addition to these positives, research and longitudinal studies have proven that Mrs. Connie Pendley is in fact the nicest person in Belk Library.

Jack is also one of the finest people in Belk library. I owe Jack a great deal of gratitude for allowing me to work for him this semester, although this is my student-teaching semester and finding time to work is tight.

Although there are many times in the library when hard work is required, I like to think at instants a bit of fun was had. The most memorable moment from my Belk Library experience is as follows:

One of my main jobs in the I.M.C. was to deliver library books to faculty members who requested them. On this one particular day the sky was overcast and grey, and consequently, Connie had given me a garbage bag. Now because the sky looked rainy and I didn’t have a rain jacket I presumed that this garbage bag was for me and I proceed to make a neatly fitting poncho, with openings for my arms and head. So here I was, already to walk out of the library, ready to take any elements Boone was prepared to throw at me and Connie stops me. To my bewilderment, the garbage bag was actually for me to wrap the books up in so they didn’t get wet while I delivered them, not for my personal comfort. To this day I still get ridiculed for the day I made the poncho. However, it’s all in good fun.

In my opinion, I believe that working in the library is quite possibly the best job on campus. The pay rate is basically the same as any other campus job (and consequently this is not great because in reality you are working for the state) and shelving books has its limitation as a gratifying experience. However, like I said above, the people who you meet in the library are second to none and you couldn’t ask for anymore as a colleague and friend.

As a final note, I would just like to take this moment to thank everybody I had the delight of interacting with in Belk Library, and this includes library faculty, staff, custodians, and fellow student-assistants. You all made a significant impact on my life and I will never forget you and the laughter we shared. The pleasure was all mine.

Like last post, I’m not sure what experience I am going to write about in my next trip down memory lane. I am hoping that to receive a flash of inspiration, like I did for this post, before the next two weeks is up. Fingers crossed this happens.

Until next time,

~Cam

Quick note continued...

www.cammccarthy.com is now fully functional. Feel free to check it out. This is a prime example of the quality of work one would be expected to complete if they decided they wanted to declare Physical Education Teacher Education as their major of choice.

Take care.

Why Am I Here?

While I am reflecting on the most significant experiences of my Appalachian career, it got me thinking, how did I end up here? (Excluding my soccer influences that I recognized in a previous blog.) This is because it is my belief that before you can move forward, you need to know where you came from. So here goes...

Why Am I Here?

How did I end up at Ashe County High school in the final semester of my undergraduate university career? This answer is obvious; it is because I am student-teaching at a public school near the university I chose to attend, Appalachian State University. However, this question is more complex than the literal explanation I provided. I am at Ashe County High School because I am student-teaching, which is the capstone experience of any undergraduate education major, for universities worldwide. However, I can attribute student-teaching and potentially pursuing a life of teaching through a combination of explanations. These explanations include being given a firsthand look at the life of a teacher through my own two parents, an unknown love of learning, some ill-informed advice, and a passion to help and give back in the public service domain.

The most significant impact that helps explain why I am here is the fact that both my parents were teachers. My Dad is a high school technology teacher and my Mum is a former elementary school teacher, now an English as a second language tutor. Consequently, from a young age I was exposed to the life of a teacher, indirectly through my parents. I was able to see the love of facilitating learning, but I was also able to see the vulnerability and despair teaching causes. I would come home from my day at school and see the joy in my parent’s eyes if they helped a student learn a new concept or if a student had reciprocated their love back. On the other hand, I could also see the vulnerability and despair their profession caused if they weren’t able to make a connection with a student or the student had exhibited inappropriate behavior.

Because I was able to see love, despair, and vulnerability through my parents, the major turning point that pushed me towards an undergraduate career in education was my own love of learning. Although I didn’t initially realize this, I actually liked coming to school. Whether it was an actual love of learning at that stage, or a love of going to school and sharing the interpersonal relationships with my friends is still unknown to me, but I do know I enjoyed coming to school. It is through my university career that I finally confirmed that I had a love of learning. This was demonstrated by my willingness to prioritize my school work above other things and the success I achieved subsequently. Therefore, I took the chance to pursue a career option that would give me an opportunity to go to a place which I loved attending every day. Furthermore, through teaching I am able to epitomize the saying “when one teaches, two learn” (unknown), satisfying my craving for learning.

When I first came to Appalachian I made the tough choice to declare my major as soon as I came in as a freshman, this way I could be tracked on a four year degree program that my athletic advisors and I desired. I didn’t want to take my time declaring and then realize that I wouldn’t get out of Appalachian in less than four and half-five years. Therefore, some of my decision to pursue Physical Education was instinct from the influences I have stated above, but it was finally established after some ill-informed advice by my father. I was weighing up between Physical Education and Exercise Science. Now I believe my Dad was somewhat correct in his statement that finding a job is a lot easier for a teacher than it is for any other profession because school’s are an element of every society that are never going to go away. There are always going to be schools and consequently there is always going to be a need for teachers. However, he also stated that the only occupation I could achieve with an Exercise Science degree is a personal trainer, which is not what I desired to be and still isn’t. Through experience however, I have learned that this very subjective statement is untrue and there would have been many rewarding potential occupations for me out there had I decided to pursue Exercise Science. Nevertheless, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, and I decided upon teaching and declaring Physical Education Teacher Education.

I chose Physical Education because it was a subject I experienced success at throughout my grade school career. Additionally, I wanted to pursue a subject that didn’t require me to be inside a classroom all day. Therefore after considering other “non-traditional” subjects, such as technology and family and consumer sciences I decided to follow Physical Education. Since I have become a Physical Education major I have made it my duty to combat the notion that it is an academically soft curricular area. This is because Physical Education plays a critical role in educating the whole individual. Research supports the importance of movement in educating both mind and body. The physically active individual is more likely to be academically motivated, alert, and successful. Throughout the school years, quality Physical Education can promote social, cooperative, and problem-solving competencies, which other subjects can’t and don’t. Additionally, Physical Education for me, growing up in New Zealand, didn’t have this notion of being academically soft, as it does in the United States. To me, Physical Education was a challenging subject in all its facets, physical, mental, emotional, and social. It is my belief that the skills such as self-discipline and time management that I learned in this subject are the same skills that have helped me achieve so much success at university. Consequently, I want to promote similar skills in the students I teach.

The final reason why I chose education as my undergraduate career was a desire to help people and give back, which is one of the fundamental principles of teaching. I have always assumed that I would have the personality to be a great teacher and have a good rapport with my students to promote a conducive learning environment. On the other hand however, I didn’t know if I had the particular personality to pursue other public service majors, because they require specific traits I don’t think I have. These subjects include those that require either a hardnosed approach, such as criminal justice or social work, or those that are very individualistic and have little interpersonal relationships, such as design. Now at the conclusion of my degree program, in my semester of student-teaching, I have confirmed that I do have the personality to be a successful teacher and I also now know that I have the tools to make my educational environment conducive to learning. Therefore, I can help and give back to the future leaders of our society as maximally as I can.

In conclusion, despite its significance in pushing me towards an undergraduate career in teaching, it is my love of learning that is now edging me away from education for the moment. Additionally, the extreme dislike and despair I feel when I have to deal with the bureaucracy of school systems is also pushing me away. I understand that teachers have to be accountable for student learning and their extracurricular duties, however, there are some of us out there that are pursuing teaching for no other reason than to help facilitate student learning and give back. Consequently, all the red-tape that is associated with schools is extremely frustrating and despairing to me, and for the moment I would like to pursue other options in my life. Therefore, at this stage I am using my Physical Education degree to help me obtain a graduate career in Exercise Science. Once that is completed this I will decide what path I will travel. I am pursuing Exercise Science knowing that I can always come back to teaching and have the persona and tools to make a great educator and impact students’ lives.

There you have it people, over the past couple blogs I have explained how I ended up at Appalachian via soccer and the influences that swayed me towards education. As a result, I can move forward into the next stage of my life knowing I will always have these memories that were aided by everything Appalachian has to offer, and I will go forward with the skills to be as successful as I want to be.

As of right now, I'm not sure what Appalachian experience I want to recognize next, but I'll give it some thought and I'll get back to you.

Until next time,

~Cam

P.s. I have finally had my graduate assistantship application recognized and I have been offered a G.A. position at the University of Memphis to go along with my acceptance to their graduate school. Elvis...here I come!

Quick Note

Below is a link to my personal website I have just created a domain name for. I have it completed, however, it's taking me time to upload and link it properly to the web. Therefore, please excuse any problems that may occur while you navigate through it.

http://www.cammccarthy.com/

Additionally, this is another example of the quality work we undertake in the Appalachian PETE program.

I hope you are well and that you have a great spring break. I'll enjoy my lack of one this year while I spend it student-teaching.

~Cam