Women’s History Month Spotlight: Eden Davis
French teacher recalls her many different experiences
Madame Davis teaches all levels of French through IB French IV. A few of her favourite painters include Renoir, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Monet, and imperialistic styles.
March 30, 2016
The first thing those who took French I four years ago would have learned from the new teacher was simple conversation. ‘Bonjour,’ ‘Comment allez-vous?’ Colours, numbers and ‘Je m’appelle…’ However, simple would be the last word on the list of adjectives to describe teacher Eden Davis.
Born on February 12th in Klamath Falls, Oregon to a marine father and a part-time librarian, full time mother, french teacher Eden Davis is no stranger to change in location, hobbies, academics, and occupations. Before teaching French, she pursued a collection of hobbies such as painting, drawing, dance, sewing/crocheting, and singing. However, her writing has now transitioned into working on a novel as she continuously has played piano since she was 13.
“Both of my parents were originally music majors and music has always been hugely important,” Davis said. “I had a lot of musical talent so it’s just a part of who you are to do music. Music being a professional thing, my in-laws were both professional musicians. My dad was also. So in addition of being a marine, he did a lot of music so it’s just always been around. I’ve also played piano and pipe-organ for a while too which I really like. Ukulele as a joke, but it’s fun. And we have a didgeridoo, which I can get a sound out of, but not very a good one.”
Having travelled school to school through her elementary and middle school years, Davis had settled in Waco, Texas for high school and then attended Baylor University for college. She started off as a piano performance major before switching into Biology pre-med, as well as practicing law from Baylor for 25 years before becoming a French teacher
“I really didn’t like the math that was involved,” Davis said. “I thought, ‘you know, French is really easy and it’s a lot of fun.’ So I did that and then I was about to graduate early from college and my dad said, ‘what are you going to do,’ and I said ‘I don’t know maybe go to grad school maybe?’ He said ‘why don’t you go to law school,’ and I said, ‘hey that’s an idea.’ So I went to law school and I graduated when I was twenty four with my law degree. My first job was in Austin, Texas for a state agency and it worked out really well.”
Davis had been a full time mom and part time lawyer since her first out of three daughters had been born. Needing a job that would fulfill that of a child’s needs, she began teaching music at her daughter’s’ elementary school, most of the time voluntarily and had learned a good deal about teaching from the setting.
“It’s taken a tremendous amount of my time, resources and energy,” Davis said. “It’s something that I enjoy. The fact that you get to learn about the world today, because one thing with young people is you always find words they don’t know, words that I don’t know, that things are changing and it keeps you young to be around younger people and I like that. And I stay friends, after they’re no longer my students, so a lot of them I keep up with from 12 or 14 years ago. I still know them and they’re married and have their own kids and that connection seeing what they did with their lives is awesome.”
Being born on Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin’s birthday, both had grown to be inspirations among Davis’s life. This does not however, diminish her feelings towards Women’s History Month.
“Women in families is the backbone of society in most cultures and I think it’s important to recognize that,” Davis said. “Not the only women who deserve recognition are not just those who have won Nobel prizes. The ones who put food on the table everyday for their kids and keep a nice home for them and teach them how to be good people in the world deserve it to.”
Having two brothers, moving every two years, and not being the most particularly wealthy, Davis describes her mother as the women who kept it going.
“My own mother, she was the one who kept it going and made sure that we were always taken care of, sometimes with very little,” Davis said. “I guess it was very hard to move all the time and make enough but she managed to do it which I think is very important. She’s 87 now but she’s still a very courageous person and that’s something that I admire very much. Courage in the place of adversity.”
