This column serves as a spotlight, highlighting the everyday people who work and live in Callaway County. The Fulton Sun takes a moment with someone who is not usually featured in the news but is just as instrumental in making our community the strong and beautiful place we all know and love.
Caleb Stott is originally from Bolivar and has lived in Mexico for the past year. Stott previously lived in Huntsville, Alabama, after attending the University of Alabama where he earned his degree in mechanical aerospace engineering. He currently works at Central Bank in Fulton as a loan processor. His mother and father live in Mexico as well.
Q. What was your first job?
A. My first job, I was a veterinary technician for Northway Animal Hospital in Huntsville, Alabama. I loved it. The animals were great; the clients or customers, not so much. They were a little weird sometimes. I enjoyed being able to see animals and like help (customers) understand the process of the drugs that the animals were taking and how surgeries work. It was a lot of fun.
Q. Who most inspires you (living or dead)?
A. I'd probably just say my father. He's a pretty easy-going guy. He doesn't judge anybody. He supports whatever we do and he's pretty laid back.
Q. What have you done in life that was most fulfilling?
A. When I was in college, I was recruited out of college to do (officer candidates school) for the U.S. Marines Corps. I loved it. It was great. It was a hard thing to get into and it was hard to leave, but I felt very fulfilled once I finished those 10 weeks. I felt great. But I didn't serve after that. My wife, at the time, she did not want to marry a military man. She said, when we got married, she didn't want anything military and I said, "Oh, neither do I." But then when I got out of college, I said, "Hey, I'm pretty good at this and I want to try (OCS) out." So I tried it and went through it, and at the end, they asked if I wanted to sign on for enlistment. I had to tell them I couldn't.
Q. What is something that you are proud of that you have been recognized for?
A. I was the team-lead design on a duel XPRIZE that worked with NASA on a new lunar lander. I did the mock design with the team that did the actual lunar lander part. It was Huntsville, Alabama, so everything was engineering. For me, it was a big step to actually get selected and to get to do that. I put that on my resumé every single time.
Q. What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?
A. Marine biology. I love sharks and I love the ocean. I know it would be spending most of the time in a lab looking through a microscope, but the times I'd get to go out and go diving and check out coral reefs, that's what I'd like to do.
Q. What profession would you not like to do?
A. I'm going to say engineering. That's the reason I'm not doing it anymore. I attempted it, but it's just so boring. Like, you're in a cubicle and you have interaction with some people, but I don't get to go out into the community and talk to anybody. I'm just stuck in a cubicle all day, and if I try to talk to somebody, you can't really do a whole lot. So, I'd say (engineering), accounting or anything that would have me stuck in a cubicle (I would not want to do). That would drive me nuts.
Q. What is something that nobody would be able to assume about you?
A. I would say that I have stage fright. Most people I talk to and once they get to know me they're like, "Oh, you're so goofy" because I like to goof off all of the time. Nope. I get on stage and I shut down, turn red, wait for it to be over and just walk off.
Q. What is your favorite thing about Callaway County?
A. I like the community. I'm from bigger cities, normally. I like the camaraderie between everybody. Everyone knows each other. I started working at the bank, and the fact is that all of the store owners (in Fulton) know people at the bank. I'm starting to get to know people here. It's nice that everyone seems to know each other and everyone's trying to help each other out.