By Caleb Youngblood, Public Relations Coordinator
September 28, 2026
I graduated from MSMS in 1995 and lit out for California; I wasn’t ever going to live in Mississippi again. But even then, I was aware of how much I owed to MSMS. After all, I doubt I’d have gotten to go to UC Berkeley for free if I’d graduated from Meridian High.
While I was an MSMS student, I loved math and physics; I was Helen Perry’s work service student, and I worshipped her. I thought I was headed for a physics or a math degree, but then . . . I took an English class at Berkeley, and then another one, and the next thing I knew, my schedule was crowded with them, and I didn’t have any time for science classes.
After a couple of stops along the way—teaching English at a Czech cigarette factory, interning at the Oxford American magazine—I found myself in the Cornell English department’s joint degree program, working towards a poetry MFA and an American literature PhD at the same time. I came out onto the academic job market in 2007. That August, the MLA jobs database was packed with juicy poetry and poetics jobs, but by late November, after the market crash, they’d all quietly been taken down. I was a visiting assistant professor here, there, and yonder over the next several years; I taught ESL at a new-immigrant settlement services center in Canada, did publicity for a small book press, adjuncted at universities, ghostwrote a couple of novels and freelance copyedited a boatload of others.
During those years of wandering in the wilderness, the most inspiring gig I ever had was a leave-replacement semester teaching literature to gifted high schoolers at Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan. That job really made me certain that if I ever had the opportunity to return to MSMS I should jump at it, and when Scott Curtis retired, I knew my time had come. I’ve been here five years, and MSMS students make me happy every single day. They impress me, they make me laugh, they remind me of my friends from the class of 1995, and they restore my hope for the future.
Just like at Berkeley I wanted to take all of the English classes, and since I’ve been back at MSMS I guess I’ve wanted to teach all the English classes too. The star of my schedule, my true love, is the American literature survey, but I also teach composition, American poetry, contemporary literature, world literature, and philosophy. Those last two have evolved from classes I inherited from Dr. Curtis—I started off with classical literature and Foundations of Western Thought and then I made them mine.
This year, I’m also experimenting with a version of composition that is heavily oriented toward science writing. I love how game MSMS students are for learning alongside me as I try new content and pedagogical strategies. I also love the many opportunities this job gives me to stretch and grow. Last year, for example, I taught one section of the English literature survey and learned a ton. While I’ve always been a viola player, I’ve also had the opportunity to dust off my violin and pick up the cello and electric bass, depending on the needs of various ensembles around campus.
I love being here, and during the school year, it does sometimes feel like I live at Hooper. But when I’m not at work, I’m gardening or fixing up my little 1920s bungalow that’s within walking distance from campus. I like to travel, both to experience new places and to stay connected with the far-flung friends I made during my wandering years. When I read for fun, I like science fiction and the weird, and when the verbal part of my brain needs a rest, I dabble in visual arts like painting, découpage, and linoleum block printing.