Tom McCarthy, who is a speech instructor here at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, first began attending college with the intentions of becoming an attorney. McCarthy’s father, who was an attorney, advised him that while he was in college that English would be very useful to him, especially when it came time to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). That’s when McCarthy declared his majored in English.
McCarthy was a graduate from Duluth Cathedral High School (now known as Marshall Cathedral High School) and coincidentally, our college president Pat Johns also a graduated from Cathedral as well. However, “he graduated the year before I started there as a freshman—he (Pat Johns) is much older than I am!” stated McCarthy.
While in college McCarthy became more involved in theatre. After being influenced by the faculty that was at St. Mary’s and McCarthy having such a great mentor as a teacher while attending St. Mary’s led him to the decision that he wanted to teach at the college level. “Needless to say, my father wasn’t too happy about the choice at first,” McCarthy mentioned, “I am however, in a commercial where I play a lawyer, so even though I didn’t become a lawyer, I play one on TV!” McCarthy accomplished college with a Bachelors degree in English and a Bachelors degree in Communication Arts from St. Mary’s University in Winona. Then he moved on to complete his Master’s degree at North Dakota State University (NDSU) where he also taught for two years as a graduate assistant. After finishing his Masters degree at NDSU he then moved on to complete his Doctorate at the University of St. Thomas.
McCarthy loved the idea of working in a profession where he would be surrounded by such interesting colleagues that have such sharp minds. “I also loved the idea of using my talents as an actor in front of the classroom and actually making a real living at it,” stated McCarthy. Now 28 years later, McCarthy teaches full-time in the speech department here at ARCC. As for the courses here at ARCC, you’ll find McCarthy in the speech department teaching 1110, 2215, 2251 and 2220.
In addition to teaching, McCarthy and his wife own the theatre section of The Seasons Dinner Theatre on Bunker Hills Golf Course here in Coon Rapids that they started 22 years ago. Two years ago, McCarthy was also one of the directors in the while ARCC was transitioning from Jack Bibee to Blayn Lemke in the theatre department. McCarthy is also involved in the faculty association and currently serving as Faculty President for the second year in a row and about the fifth year overall.
McCarthy described the first day of teaching here at ARCC as “great!” McCarthy didn’t recall being nervous at all. He also had a great mentor here at ARCC Greg LaPanta, who taught speech here and was also from his hometown. “Because he was fifteen years older than me, we didn’t know each other, but our families knew each other, and Greg took me under his wing and taught me so much about teaching. He really made it all seem so easy and rewarding,” stated McCarthy. When McCarthy first began teaching at ARCC he was actually teaching speech classes and coaching the speech team as the Director of Speech Activities. Going into his second quarter of teaching, McCarthy was teaching English and Speech, and also directing the speech team.
One of McCarthy’s most memorable moments while teaching here at ARCC was at the first national tournament he went to where his team won Gold in Readers Theatre. His team was new to the national tournament so they didn’t even realize they had won until after everyone else was clapping for us. “When I finally realized we had won, I was jumping up and down and going crazy and my students were still unsure of what was going on but eventually they figured it out too,” stated McCarthy. His team continued to win over the years but eventually they discontinued the team for budget reasons. However, they still were able to finish third in the nation overall that year.
While teaching here at ARCC, McCarthy was faced with a very terrible life changing moment. “It was the moment Greg LaPanta passed away,” said McCarthy. “I had been teaching here for three years and Greg and I had become best friends. The day before I was leaving for a speech tournament at UW-Eau Claire he told me he was going to the doctor because he was having trouble swallowing. It ended up that he had stomach cancer that had moved into his esophagus.” LaPanta survived another year, but died the following year. It was a life changing experience McCarthy recalls, not only because he was such an important mentor to him, but a very important friend to him as well. “I was there the moment that he died in Mercy Hospital and went to my office at ARCC shortly after and sat in my office and thought--wow, now what do I do? McCarthy came to realize that much of how he viewed himself as a teacher was due to his friendship with Greg.
“I really do love the interaction with the students, McCarthy stated, “I enjoy making learning enjoyable, and realize that because I teach a subject that many students find intimidating (speech) that I have a greater responsibility for making the classroom a comfortable space for students.” McCarthy also really likes seeing the diversity amongst his students, whether it’s ethnic diversity or age related or whatever else it might be. McCarthy also finds the students and faculty to be so interesting. “I really enjoy hearing their life stories and learning more about places I’ve never been or experiences I haven’t had,” stated McCarthy, and “A speech classroom is just the perfect place to hear those stories.”
