'I want to see how far I can go'

The reality of Jackson High School senior Cameron Tyler's $20,000 scholarship win hasn't quite sunk in yet.

On June 24, Tyler was named the first-place winner of the Optimist International Oratorical World Championship, held on the campus of Saint Louis University.

"It's amazing, but kind of hard to describe, still," he said.

His speech, titled "How My Best Brings Out the Best in Others," was written on the same topic as every other participant's speech, he said, and "writing it was a lot of fun. I got to tell my story."

Tyler said he interviewed his friends, family members and co-workers to gather information about himself and what others like about him.

As he wrote it all out, he thought about what he likes about himself and tried to organize his speech around the points that most stood out to him.

"I love to be ambitious," he said, "and I wrote a lot about how I'm different at different places in my life -- at home, at school, at work -- I can't show any fear around kids. They can smell it."

Tyler teaches part time at South Elementary's after-school Kids Club and also is involved in several extracurricular activities.

He performs in the school choir, plays the tuba for the school band, is president of the Rotary Interact club on campus, is a member of Future Business Leaders of America, was inducted into the National Honor Society and is a member of J-Click, a club in association with MoDOT that encourages others to buckle up and arrive alive.

"I think that's all I'm a part of," he said, laughing.

Tyler also has performed at The Muny in St. Louis and has been a cast member in two shows at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. He doesn't have a lot of free time, but he loves what he does.

"I want to attend Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis," he said, where his eventual goal is to earn a teaching degree. "More specifically, I'd want to focus on vocal and instrumental instruction for kindergarten through 12th grade, have a second major in musical theater and work with the instructors there to earn a degree to teach speech and theater. So, three degrees -- I really want to be a music teacher."

Both of Tyler's parents are teachers, and while he's lived his entire life in Jackson, he's intrigued by the people he met at the oratorical competition.

"It was a great experience, being there with all the people; it was amazing," he said. "Learning how many different U.S. cultures there are, depending on where people are from, what their experiences have been, how they've grown up, what they've seen. I was surprised at the language differences, especially. All these cultures coming together in one place, even some people from other countries. I met some Canadian people, one who spoke French. And a competitor from Belize had to record her speech, because she lives eight hours away from technology. I had no idea what it would be like, but their speeches were so moving. The same topic, all different approaches. It was so interesting how different (they were)."

Tyler was sponsored in the competition by the Jackson Ladies Noon Optimist Club.

"If I'm given a task, I'll do it to the best of my ability," he said. "That's how I psych myself up, before an audition or giving a speech, anything like that. I'll tell myself, 'Just do your best. And if my best is not good enough, that's OK. My parents, friends, people are still proud of me. But I want to be my best in everything I do.' I want to see how far I can go."