Courtesy Globe Gazette:
Sunday, October 11, 2009 11:53 PM CDT
'Poor student' becomes educator
By MARY PIEPER, mary.pieper@globegazette.com
Joe Davis leads a group discussion class at NIACC. Included are Brad Davis (his son, center) and Levi DeYoung. (MARY PIEPER/The Globe Gazette)
MASON CITY — When North Iowa Area Community College communications instructor Joe Davis was in high school, most of his teachers were just hoping he would manage to graduate.
“I was a very poor high school student,” said Davis, 50. “I missed 30 days a quarter.”
After three years in the Army and then working as an EMT after returning to civilian life, Davis enrolled in college when he was in his 30s.
“I was terrified at the prospect,” he said. “I was surprised it worked out as well as it did.”
Since he was a non-traditional student himself, he relates to the older students in the classes he teaches.
“I know what they are going through,” he said.
Davis was born in Great Falls, Mont., but lived in Florida and Georgia when he was growing up.
He didn’t now what he wanted to do when he got out of high school.
A local plumber wanted him to be his apprentice, but he decided to join the Army instead because he felt they could offer him “a better deal,” he said.
He was an Army medic for three years, stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
After he left the Army, he went back to Montana and became an ambulance EMT.
That’s how he met his wife, Jenine, an ER nurse.
“Our dates were in the emergency room,” he said.
She was the one who talked him into going back to school.
Davis enrolled at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. At that time he was planning to become a nurse.
However, any time he had to write something for a class, he got a lot of praise for it.
After he won a writing contest, he decided to switch his major to English....
...His first teaching job was at a private four-year college in Holly Springs, Miss. Historically it had been a black college.
“On campus I think we had exactly one white student,” he said...
“I was a very poor high school student,” said Davis, 50. “I missed 30 days a quarter.”
After three years in the Army and then working as an EMT after returning to civilian life, Davis enrolled in college when he was in his 30s.
“I was terrified at the prospect,” he said. “I was surprised it worked out as well as it did.”
Since he was a non-traditional student himself, he relates to the older students in the classes he teaches.
“I know what they are going through,” he said.
Davis was born in Great Falls, Mont., but lived in Florida and Georgia when he was growing up.
He didn’t now what he wanted to do when he got out of high school.
A local plumber wanted him to be his apprentice, but he decided to join the Army instead because he felt they could offer him “a better deal,” he said.
He was an Army medic for three years, stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
After he left the Army, he went back to Montana and became an ambulance EMT.
That’s how he met his wife, Jenine, an ER nurse.
“Our dates were in the emergency room,” he said.
She was the one who talked him into going back to school.
Davis enrolled at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. At that time he was planning to become a nurse.
However, any time he had to write something for a class, he got a lot of praise for it.
After he won a writing contest, he decided to switch his major to English....
...His first teaching job was at a private four-year college in Holly Springs, Miss. Historically it had been a black college.
“On campus I think we had exactly one white student,” he said...
...Davis accepted the teaching position at NIACC. He has been there 10 years.
He teaches composition, creative writing and public speaking.
Davis said he likes teaching because “no two classrooms are alike.”
Also, “You get to inspire people all day long,” he said.
He and his wife, now a nurse at Opportunity Village in Clear Lake, have two children, Toni, 25, who lives in the Chicago area, and Brad, 21, who lives in Mason City"....
Davis began running and watching what he eats after his doctor told him his blood sugar levels were too high. He now runs 10 miles a day. He lost 150 pounds.
He teaches composition, creative writing and public speaking.
Davis said he likes teaching because “no two classrooms are alike.”
Also, “You get to inspire people all day long,” he said.
He and his wife, now a nurse at Opportunity Village in Clear Lake, have two children, Toni, 25, who lives in the Chicago area, and Brad, 21, who lives in Mason City"....
Davis began running and watching what he eats after his doctor told him his blood sugar levels were too high. He now runs 10 miles a day. He lost 150 pounds.
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I had to post this after I my son ran across this article...
Does anyone rmember our old friend and poster Joe? That's him in this public article extracted in portions and provided here.(Yes, davieboy's brother; both of whom used to post here.) Does anyone else remember him prolificly posting that he was a Viet Nam Veteran here? I sure do, since I am a veteran.
By this article he is 50 yrs old in 2009. By this article he served three years in the Army. By history, Nixon quit sending troops to Viet Nam during 1969. By history Saigon fell near Valentine's Day, 1975, when communist troops took over. By this artice, he was in his 30's when he entered college. By this article, he was an Army medic for three years at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. ( OOPS...guess that rats out the Viet Nam claim!).
This should serve interesting to some of the old timers here....maybe even some newer ones. Gotta love how public history proves all!!!
See for yourself:
