Getting to know...Carey VoellerThere are so many interesting layers to assistant professor of English Dr. Carey Voeller that it’s hard to pick out one as a starting point. So we’ll begin with the smaller stuff and work our way up…
• Wofford is Voeller’s first full-time teaching job. He earned his undergraduate degree at Portland State University, his master’s degree at the University of Montana, and his doctorate at the University of Kansas. He proudly lays claim to having blazed “an Oregon Trail in reverse.”
• His weakness? Caffeine. “You’ll usually see me on campus with some form of it in my hand,” he says.
• Interests…
o Pets: A 13-year old cat named Mouse, and an ageless turtle named Napoleon. “I’ve had (Napoleon) since seventh grade, and apparently he’s going to live forever. They warned me about it, too. I just never thought I’d be in my mid-30s and still have a pet turtle. But he’s part of the family now.”
o Pet peeve: People who don’t use their turn signals. “It was really bad in Lawrence, Kan. I feel like people around here have sort of reclaimed the turn signal, though.”
o Guilty pleasure: Movies. “My wife and I watch a LOT of movies. Probably way too many. We watch them at home. We like horror movies. She tends to go for the slasher movies. I tend to prefer the psychological, cerebral movies that creep you out.”
o Favorite activity: Fly fishing. “One of several outdoor activities I like. I picked it up in Montana.”
o Flirtation with fame: “My mom’s second cousin was married to Willie Nelson. As a kid growing up, Willie always sent us gifts back in the 80s. My first concert was Willie Nelson when I was like five years old.”
o Music: Anything from jazz to country to punk rock to heavy metal. “I’ve got quite the collection at home.”
Now for the more important stuff. He met his wife, Debbie, a social worker by trade who specializes in women’s drug addiction and rehabilitation, when both were waiting tables together at a tourist restaurant in Bend, Ore.
“We were both 22,” he recalls. “We were just friends then, and we lost touch for about eight years. One day she called my parents to find out what had happened to me, and I was living in Montana then. We started dating long distance while I was there and then when I moved to Kansas, until she finally broke down and moved to be with me, and we married soon thereafter.”
They are on their way to adding a third family member here in Spartanburg.
“We’re expecting our first child in December, right around the time that grades are due,” he laughs. “So we have that to look forward to. I’m going to need tips on how to be a good parent. If anyone wants to send me advice, that would be great.”
Voeller got his first teaching advice, as well as his first inclination that teaching might make for a good career, from -- What else? -- a movie.
“Growing up, I always liked reading and writing,” he says. “But when I saw Dead Poets Society, I remember thinking, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ Since then I’ve come to realize that the movie is Hollywood’s version of academia, but I still love the scene where the students stand on their desks at the end. I’m always joking with my students that I hope I can influence them enough one day that they’ll do that for me.
“In all seriousness, that movie gave me the idea of making a career out of talking about books and writing with students. I thought, ‘What a great way to enter the adult world.’ Little did I realize how much school would be involved at that point, but you learn that later on. By then you’re already hooked.”
Voeller teaches early American literature (up to 1865), and thus it is his pleasure to introduce his students to Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Frederick Douglass, Anne Bradstreet, and Mary Rowlandson, among others. One thing that helps him connect with his students is his passion for the subject he teaches.
“I was sitting in a class on 19th Century literature at Portland State University,” he recalls. “It was the professor there who made the 19th Century seem very cool to me. My hope is that I can pass that enthusiasm on to my students.
“I still remember enjoying that moment of learning as an undergrad. The cool thing is I am starting to see it again. My students have been pretty amped up these first couple of weeks. I have seen some ‘light bulb moments,’ if you will, a couple of times already.”
Talking with Voeller, one gets a sense of true appreciation for what he gets to do for a living.
“I’m just really excited because I’m able to interact with students in much smaller classes than I’ve ever had before,” he says. “It has almost taken some getting used to. My morning class has only eight students so we can actually sit in a circle. I’m learning my students’ names here much more quickly than I ever did anywhere else before.
“I’ve also enjoyed meeting other faculty all across campus; that’s something I didn’t experience at the bigger schools. I’ve also met some very nice people who are staff members, too. Here you can sit down at lunch and eat with somebody from the religion department, business office, and biology department, and it feels very welcoming.”
Oh captain, my captain? Welcome aboard.