Episode 8 of the conversations with men who stutter features Michael Callicutt, who hails from central North Carolina. He has been in St Louis, Missouri, his wife’s hometown, since last Fall. Micheal has been teaching band for seven years to students in grades 6 through high school.

Music has always been important to Micheal. He didn’t flourish academically in school until he joined band at age 10, when “all of a sudden, everything made sense.”  He knew then that music was his gift.

In college, Micheal actually started of with pre-dentistry classes, thinking he would not be able to support a family on a teaching salary. But he quickly learned that was not for him, and allowed himself to follow his music calling.

We discuss how stuttering impacted his college studies – he had a lot of self doubt and fears, worrying about completing the speaking aspects and teaching internships.

We also talk about how Michael almost never stutters in front of his students, interesting reactions from listeners, and true expressions of self.

Feel free to leave feedback or ask questions in the comment section of this blog. Let Micheal know what a great job he did!

Music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.