Class of ’26 Reflection: Charles Kellon

Charles Kellon is a senior in the Caldwell Fellows Class of 2026 from Knightdale, North Carolina studying Applied Education Studies. After graduation, he plans to teach in an elementary classroom while remaining an active community member in the area where he works. In his free time, he enjoys going for walks and having dinner with friends.

Looking Back

Reflecting on his sophomore seminar experience with the Caldwell Fellows, Charles notes a formative reading from the first week of class. Duffle Bag Medicine by Maya Roberts greatly informed the way he aims to show up in his community by emphasizing the importance of working alongside those you are serving. Servant leaders should avoid entering new spaces and imposing their own experiences, disregarding local perspectives. This idea resonated deeply with Charles, as it highlights how even well-intentioned individuals can unintentionally cause harm if they fail to engage meaningfully with the communities they seek to serve. Planning for post-grad life in the field of education, he is committed to practicing true servant leadership by listening openly, remaining adaptable, and incorporating community input into his work.

Another sophomore experience that shaped Charles’ growth was service learning. Through his involvement with Neighbor 2 Neighbor, a peer development program for the Raleigh community, Charles developed a strong understanding of moral authority as a key pillar of servant leadership. Particularly when working with the youth, he learned that earning respect through integrity and consistency fosters more meaningful connections. “Moral authority is what allows you to truly be seen as a person that is worthy of respect and therefore creates stronger relationships.” This approach allowed him to build connections not only with the students he mentored weekly, but also with others he encountered through community events and time spent at the center.

Moral authority is what allows you to truly be seen as a person that is worthy of respect and therefore creates stronger relationships.

Looking Inward

Journeying beyond the Raleigh area, Charles took a summer trip with the fellows to Spain. Walking the Camino de Santiago was a transformative experience for Charles. Beyond exposure to European culture, food, and language, it fostered deep relationships and personal growth. The first day proved especially challenging, marked by exhaustion, uncertainty, and difficult terrain. Despite moments of doubt, he persevered, taking each step carefully, particularly during a long, slippery descent into Roncesvalles. The support of a fellow traveler who stayed behind with him reinforced the program’s emphasis on servant leadership and mutual care.

Motivated by that initial challenge, Charles approached the following days with renewed determination, eventually becoming one of the first to arrive at each destination. The adversity he faced early on is what drove him to grow. During the journey, he also encountered a visually impaired man completing the Camino with the support of friends. Witnessing this experience reshaped Charles’s perspective, deepening his appreciation for his own physical abilities and reinforcing the idea that many obstacles are mental. A quote from that interaction continues to guide him in moments of challenge: “Obstacles are only obstacles when you allow them to take over your life.”

Obstacles are only obstacles when you allow them to take over your life.

Through guided reflection at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), Charles identified and refined his core values, gaining clarity on how they influence both personal and professional choices. This experience challenged him to think more critically about alignment between his values and the opportunities he pursues. The process of assessing the tenets of who he is and whittling them down to a core, select few was eye-opening and allowed him to see their influence on the decisions he makes every day.

Looking Forward

A globally-minded fellow, Charles credits Caldwell summer trips like the Camino and Japan for significantly broadening his cultural perspective. These experiences exposed him to diverse ways of life, deepening his respect for cultural differences and similarities. Having traveled to Hawai‘i before and after his time in Japan, Charles became particularly interested in the cultural and historical connections between the two places. This curiosity ultimately inspired his decision to pursue teaching opportunities in Hawai‘i.

As he prepares for this transition, Charles remains committed to approaching servant leadership with intentionality and cultural awareness. He has begun learning ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi to demonstrate respect and a willingness to engage with the local community. In his future classroom, he aims to build trust with students, families, and colleagues by listening first, avoiding assumptions, and responding thoughtfully to community needs. “It is easy for us to think that we understand the best ways to serve a community based off of our collegiate education or life experiences” Charles says, “If [we] are not actively engaging in conversations with the community and doing all [we] can to educate [ourselves] on the community being served, [we] can create more harm than good.”

If we are not actively engaging in conversations with the community and doing all we can to educate ourselves on the community being served, we can create more harm than good.

Charles believes one of the most valuable aspects of the Caldwell community is its diversity of experiences, perspectives, and career paths. He plans to continue seeking out relationships with individuals from different backgrounds, recognizing that these connections foster both personal growth and a broader worldview. These interactions eliminate echo chambers and self-affirming narratives by challenging assumptions and pushing everyone involved to be better. His experiences at Caldwell Conversations reinforced the idea that success is not always linear and encouraged him to embrace change with confidence. At a point in time where he was tossing around the idea of changing his major, the words of alumni who had taken winding paths to success reassured him that course corrections were perfectly alright. “I am grateful for this community that allowed me to see that it is okay to make changes as long as you are informed about the decision you are making.”

As he moves forward, Charles hopes to carry with him the authenticity, openness, and commitment to service that have defined his journey. He strives to build and contribute to communities rooted in genuine connection, mutual respect, and shared growth, while continually reflecting on his experiences to inform future decisions. We are proud to call Charles a fellow and can’t wait to see where his service and travels take him.