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| Reagan Watkins |
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The closest Reagan Watkins got to the Cameron University Debate
Tournament this fall was about 300 yards above the landing strip
at the Oklahoma City Airport.
Watkins, fellow student Austin Hubble, and Instructor in Speech
Clint Kinkead were bound for Cameron University in Lawton,
Oklahoma, in early December to compete for the first time in the
annual Cameron Christmas Swing Debate Tournament. But weather
dealt them a bad hand, and they were forced to forfeit the
tournament and return home, without having stepped foot in the
“Sooner State.”
“We were about to land in Oklahoma City when the pilot came on
the intercom and said the airport had just been closed because
the runways were iced over and it was unsafe to land,” says
Watkins, 29, who said that the pilot lifted the plane back up
and headed back to Dallas.
Still, both Watkins and Hubble are determined to compete in the
tournament again next year, and they know that by that time
they’ll have a few more tournaments under their belts. |
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“Our Speech and Debate Society at Dalton State is still a pretty
young organization,” says Watkins, who notes that members of the
organization plan to participate in scrimmage debates with
students from Berry College, UT Chattanooga, and Kennesaw State
over the coming year before returning to the Cameron Christmas
Swing tournament next year.
“We’re looking forward to traveling back to Oklahoma for the
Cameron tournament in December.”
Traveling for Watkins is nothing new. A graduate of Northwest
High School and a former Shaw Industries employee, Reagan signed
up for a tour of duty with the United States Army in 2001, just
six months before 9/11.
“I wanted to go to college, but I wanted to pay my own way, so I
thought joining the Army and later going to school on the GI
Bill would be the thing to do,” he says.
He was fortunate to land his first two choices – military
intelligence and the 82cd Airborne Division – and he spent time
in Oklahoma, Arizona and Georgia completing basic training.
When 9/11 occurred, Watkins was stationed at Ft. Bragg in North
Carolina. He recalls feeling a mixture of excitement and fear as
he prepared to be put in “harm’s way,” in what turned out to be
three overseas missions: two in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.
“In Afghanistan, I spent most of my time as a security agent
with the special forces. My job was to develop sources and
interview people. We spent time every day going to different
houses, talking to people, and passing that information up the
chain.”
Deployed to Iraq in August of 2003, Watkins continued using his
interviewing skills to gather intelligence in the rural
countryside near Falujah.
Being in the service for five years gave Watkins the chance to
appreciate even more deeply his “blessings” as an American
citizen, he says.
“This experience helped me understand how insignificant I am in
the big scheme of things. But it also made me realize how lucky
and blessed I am to live in a country where I can make choices
everyday. If I want to work every day, I can. If I want to work
while going to school, I can. If I want to pursue any particular
dream, I can.”
When Watkins returned home to Dalton in the spring of 2005, he
fulfilled his dream of coming back into school. And even though
he chose to come back “on his own dime,” Watkins credits his
parents, Charles and Brandy Watkins, for providing “unwavering
support and counsel.”
“I had my doubts about coming to Dalton State at first,” Watkins
says. “But after being here for a year and a half, I see this as
a first-rate institution. It’s definitely a place where
professors know your name – a place where you’re not just a
number. We are so fortunate to have professors here who truly
care about your academic success.”
A Marketing Systems major, Watkins plans to pursue a career that
involves the skills he learned in his first communications class
with Clint Kinkead at Dalton State: those of speaking, debating,
and persuading.
“My experience in the army centered around interrogation, and
over time, I developed that skill and became good at public
speaking. And having Mr. Kinkead for speech during my first
semester here was great. He’s one of those awesome teachers who
actually practices what they preach. He taught us how to put
what we learned in class to practical use.”
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