Campbell University named the Tadlock family of Williamston, N.C., its Family of the Year during Family Weekend 2013. Pictured left to right are Hunter, Pamela, Lynn and Emily Tadlock– who all have been students at Campbell. | Photo by Becky Sliney Photography
BUIES CREEK — Emily Tadlock, a senior at Campbell University, had nominated her family for Campbell’s Family of the Year award last year but the Tadlocks weren’t selected. When the nominations started this year, her sister, Hunter, a junior at Campbell, asked her if she thought it would be a good idea if they both submitted an essay nominating their family again.
“We decided it couldn’t hurt,” said Emily, who is majoring in communication and theatre arts and minoring in business management.
It didn’t. Campbell’s Office of Student Life office has selected the Tadlocks, of Williamston, N.C., as the university’s Family of the Year. Emily, Hunter, and their parents — Lynn and Pamela,who both attended Campbell — were recognized Saturday during halftime at the Camels home football game against Morehead State as part of the university’s annual Family Weekend.
“Campbell University really is at the heart of my family,” Emily said. “We have a lot of family history here on campus . . . — all the way to my grandmother and great aunt and great uncles. So being Campbell’s Family of the Year is such an honor for my family and I feel like they truly deserve it. Not to mention the excitement and pure joy that my mother exuded when she found out was priceless. The ‘crazy Campbell lady’ was so proud.”
Emily and Hunter’s mother, Pamela, a 1986 graduate, is known as the “crazy Campbell lady” at the high school in Williamston where she teaches. “No one gets through Riverside High School without hearing about Campbell University,” Emily wrote in the essay she submitted to Student Life nominating her family.
In her essay, Hunter wrote that their father, Lynn — who was working at Campbell and taking classes when he met Pamela — attends every home Camels football game and spends his Sunday afternoons playing golf, toting “around his Campbell golf bag, with his Campbell golf towel, while wearing the brightest of Campbell orange shirts he can find. . . .
“I know that when I leave this campus I will not be leaving it for good because my heart will always be with Campbell University,” Hunter wrote, “and it’s the same with the rest of my family.”
As part of the prize for being named Family of the Year, the Barnes & Noble Bookstore at Campbell University will provide an allowance to cover the cost of text books for both Emily and Hunter for the spring semester.
“I really wanted to get Family of the Year since it was the last year we were going to be on campus together,” said Hunter, an exercise science major. “Emily is my best friend, and I knew this meant a lot to her. . . .
“I’m just happy that we can share this memory with each other our last year on campus together.”
Below are the essays that Emily and Hunter wrote and submitted to nominate their family for the Family of the Year honor. Both are reprinted with permission.
Emily Tadlock: “Black and orange runs through the Tadlock family veins”
Class: Senior
Major: Communication and theatre arts major with a business management minor
Activities: Lead anchor of Campbell Now! News; the Student Government Association’s senior class representative and advancement chair; member of Lambda Pi Eta, a national communication honors society; and member of Phi Beta Lambda, a business club
My name is Emily Tadlock and I am currently a senior at Campbell University. I have grown up hearing about Campbell and knowing that I someday wanted to be a Camel.
My mother graduated from Campbell and my father worked on campus and attended a few classes. My parents met and fell in love on Campbell’s campus, so my sister and I were already born little camels.
I remember growing up hearing stories from my mother about, “This professor is the one who convinced me that I wanted to be a teacher.” My mom is an educator and truly believes in the power of education. She has motivated my sister Hunter, who is a junior here at Campbell, me, and all of her former students to strive for excellence.
My mom could probably be considered some type of extended Campbell University ambassador, seeing as at school she is known as the “crazy Campbell lady.” No one gets through Riverside High School without hearing about Campbell University. She is a true inspiration to my sister, her students and me. Nelson Mandela says, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” My mother is changing the world through educating students and motivating them to reach for the stars.
My dad graduated from high school and had some college education, but he never had the chance to completely finish four years of school. He has always pushed my sister and me to learn, grow and take in as much as we can because he never had the chance.
My parents have always been right behind us. Whether someone was needed to drive the band truck, host study parties for final exams, or just be a cheerleader to cheer us on even if we were falling behind, my parents have always been there. They are two of the biggest Campbell fans I have ever met.
It is a ritual in our church at home that if your team played the night before, then on Sunday morning you wear your school colors. Church members wear red blazers and purple dresses and smack dab in the middle of it are my parents proudly wearing that orange and black. They never miss a football game even though Sunday school comes early. Even being two hours away, they still volunteer every chance they get to help with club or school events whether it be monetarily or by giving up a weekend.
I remember my first visit to Campbell with my family. Every five to 10 feet they were telling me “This used to be here”, “That hasn’t changed a bit,” or they would just look at each other and smile. They supported me no matter what school I chose, but I knew that if a school had this much of an impact on my parents, then it had to be something special. Throughout my visit on the campus, after meeting professors and meeting other students I knew that Campbell was the choice for me. Where else could I get an amazing education, develop friendships that will last a lifetime, be involved with everything I’m interested in, and have support and love from faculty and staff who push me to grow even stronger in my faith?
I have spent four years on this beautiful campus and it feels like home, but I can’t stay here forever. This is my last year of school and while I am sad to be leaving Campbell, I know that I am ready. My professors have prepared me to go out into the real world and not be afraid. I know that I will make it through the desert because I am a camel! There is no doubt that black and orange runs through the Tadlock family veins and that we will continue to be supporters of the school that has supported us.
Hunter Tadlock: “I was born to be a camel”
Class: Junior
Major: Exercise science
Activities: Student Ambassador for Campbell Admissions, Exercise Science Club, and Pine Burr yearbook staff
I was born to be a camel. Most people wouldn’t understand that statement, but to me it was always simple.
My name is Hunter Tadlock. I am the child of a Campbell love affair. My mother was a history pre-law major and my father was working on campus and taking a few classes. They met at the little short stop on campus and from there it was history. My parents got married and lived right near campus while my mother finished school. They knew then that education was important and they have passed that knowledge on to my sister and me.
My older sister chose to go to Campbell two years earlier than myself. She is very passionate about her education and she has been a constant motivator for me. Whenever I had to sign up for classes, she always told me which professors I would learn and do my best under and no matter what she was always there to support me.
I decided at the end of my sophomore year that I wasn’t happy in my major and I decided my true passion lied in occupational and speech therapy. It was a tough decision seeing as I had already been in school a full two years before. My family prayed together long and hard asking God that he would send me in the direction I was meant to go. My dad always told me never to give up, no matter how many times I fell my family would always be there to pick me up.
I met with my advisor at Campbell and told her that I was worried and I needed some guidance. She comforted me and suggested I switch my major to sports and exercise science with a minor in speech therapy. She informed me that a few of my classes would transfer and I would be set up to enter occupational therapy school after receiving my undergrad. She was so kind and having my family’s support was what really helped me believe in myself.
The help and support that the faculty and staff have given me made me want to help other students choose a school that was as great as mine. I work for the Campbell admissions office, where I encourage students that it is OK to be unsure of what path life has for them, but Campbell’s great support system will help guide you to making those decisions.
To everyone around home my mother is known as the “crazy Campbell lady.” She constantly encourages her students to apply to, not only Campbell, but also colleges in general (although Campbell would be the ideal choice). Even though other teachers wear their red and purples my mother is constantly sporting that orange and black.
My dad has different ways of showing his pride. Every Sunday afternoon when my dad plays golf he totes around his Campbell golf bag, with his Campbell golf towel, while wearing the brightest of Campbell orange shirts he can find. Whenever someone asks him where he was on Saturday, his answer is always, “at the Campbell football game.”
My sister shows her pride by doing what she loves: broadcasting. She anchors the new “Campbell Now! News” show that airs at 8 a.m. When she interned with News 14 Carolina this summer, she was the only Campbell student amongst Carolina and State students, but she was proud of that. She was the first with her hand up to volunteer and she said that she had a vast knowledge already because of the education her professors at Campbell had provided her with.
I know that when I leave this campus I will not be leaving it for good because my heart will always be with Campbell University and it’s the same with the rest of my family. I am proud to say that I belong to a Campbell family and that no matter what comes our way we will make it out of the desert. I was born to be a camel.