What's In A Name?

What's in a name? After reading Kathy Xiong's article, "What's In A Name?", I was inspired by her description of the plot of The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi and wished I had a great story behind how I got my name. The character in the book, Unhei was originally embarrassed by her unique name, but once she learned the rich culture and meaning behind it she discovered it was something special.

Growing up my name has ALWAYS been mispronounced and I used to hate it because it was so unique. I could never find mugs or magnets or keychains with my name on them and I wished I had a simple name like my sister, Amy. It hasn't been until I got older that I came to appreciate my name and its uniqueness. Now, there isn't a great story to how my parents chose my name. My dad liked Kayleigh and my mom liked Jill. My mom didn't like Kayleigh but they both compromised on Kyleigh; unique spelling and all. Over the years I looked up it's origins and found that it is derived from Gaelic origins, meaning graceful, generous of spirit, and beauty. It also has Australian aborigine origins meaning boomerang!

Welcome!

Hello! My name is Kyleigh McCune and I am a teacher candidate at Cal State San Marcos! I am working to be a credentialed middle or high school science teacher! I live in Vista, CA with my husband who is a Marine. We moved out here almost two years ago from Ohio where we both grew up. I earned my Bachelors of Science in Wildlife and Conservation Biology at Ohio University and since then have had a variety of biology related jobs. I decided to go into teaching while spending an internship as an environmental educator at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I currently spend my summers at a seasonal job with the San Diego Zoo as a research technician on the California Least Tern and Western Snowy Plover project doing population and nest monitoring. I am very excited to begin my journey to becoming a science teacher and sharing my love for biology with my students!