Life lessons from the front of the classroom

Many students are faced with adversity and the challenge of overcoming obstacles. However, students often do not hear about challenges that their professors have endured.

Katie Davis, a history professor at Gonzaga, used her love of history to overcome challenges in her life and fulfill her dream of becoming a professor — despite being dyslexic.

Walking into the house Davis grew up in, a visitor would see an eclectic mix of modern necessities — a child gate for instance — and an astounding collection of historical artifacts, including a chair from Versailles that Napoleon Bonaparte possibly sat on. Out of this environment, a lover of history was born. Davis said she knew since she was 4 years old that she was going to study history and become a teacher.

As a professor at Gonzaga, she is able to share her wealth of knowledge about the past with students.

"Everything has a history," she said. "Everything. From hole-punchers to countries."

She said studying tension between groups of people and countries, and especially the way that it is dealt with, is one of her favorite parts of the subject of history. And then there's what Davis called the "weird things," such as the history of furniture, costume and dress, and books that she loves.

Davis' parents have a French empire sofa in the living room, the chair from Versailles, a collection of jade from China, rugs from the Cossack region, Turkey and China. These tokens from the past have invoked in her "an inexplicable interest."

But life hasn't been an easy coast for Davis, who has had to deal with hurdles such as not being able to tell the difference between words like "does" and "dose." Davis said that because of this, she still has her mom proofread the material she brings to her classrooms and sometimes when she speaks it sounds like she's "having a stroke."

This is because Davis is afflicted with severe dyslexia. She has two types of the disorder: one that concerns writing and reading — dysgraphia — and one involved with mathematics.

Growing up she was constantly put down and doubted. A doctor told her she would be lucky to make it to high school.

"[They] thought I wouldn't be able to graduate from high school," she said. "I graduated with honors."

From there, Davis said she went on to make the biggest move of her life and attend Wells College in New York. But after graduate school — which she said was easy compared to Wells — she found her way back to Spokane and Gonzaga, where she continues her family legacy as a teacher, which is showcased by the photos of her grandfather, a law student and teacher at Gonzaga. Her mom, uncle, brother and aunt have all worked or studied at Gonzaga.

Although Davis continues to struggle with dyslexia, she has found ways to cope, so most students can't even tell.

So what advice does Davis have for students?

"You do everything that you can do," she said. "Even if it makes you uncomfortable so you don't look back in 10 years and wish that you had done it."

She also reminds students to take advantage of their time at Gonzaga.

"This is the time of your life that you get to have freedom that you won't ever have again," Davis said.