“Hey man!” shouts an obviously excited Cole Davis as he gives me a hard fist bump. I grin at him as we sit down at our small table in the Lex together. As he sits there practically giddy with excitement, I can’t help but laugh. For as long as I’ve known him, Davis has always had a way of putting a smile on your face whenever you talk to him. That’s one of his gifts.
“I’m a really cool guy, y’know.”
I smile at him. While Davis certainly is a really awesome guy, I’m not really sure if he knows how awesome that he is. Even if it is only your first time around him, you could still plainly see that he has never met someone who is not his friend. He is extremely outgoing and has a clear love for other people.
“I just love going to class, going to my dorm and I love seeing my friends!” he nearly shouts as I self-consciously glance around to make sure that we’re not disturbing anyone. “I just have so many friends, and I love Union!”
Union University has come to love Davis as well. He is now in his second and final year of Union’s EDGE program, which is a program for special needs students. Unfortunately, there are many who would view someone suited for a program like this as different in a demeaning sense. As sad as it may be, this was the case for Davis before he came to Union.
“I struggled with a lot of bullying back in high school, and people made fun of me for being and looking a little different,” he says sadly. “But it’s much better for me at Union than it was in high school. The people are really nice to me instead of being mean like they were back there.”
However, the adversity that Davis has faced and his perceived limitations have not prevented him from being one of the most involved students on Union’s campus. He has a passion for both broadcast journalism (“Philadelphia isn’t ready for me!”) and music (“I’m trying out for the jazz band really soon!”), and he is involved in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. All of this has allowed him to leave a real impact on the lives of different people at Union University.
Davis was one of the first people that freshman Grace McMurry met at Union, and she remembers him as one of the people who made her feel the most welcome.
“Cole’s friendship has been a friendship unlike any other! Cole and I met my first day of school and instantly clicked. He knows how to brighten anyone’s day, he always asks about how you are doing, and he persistently will give you the biggest smile and a fist bump. I’m so thankful for Cole Davis, and getting to know him has been one of my favorite things this year! Anyone that has met Cole knows that he is a friend that has the biggest heart and will leave anyone smiling after talking with him.”
His brothers in Sigma Alpha Epsilon are also extremely thankful for his time in their chapter.
“Cole Davis has shown our chapter what community, passion and love for others looks like on a daily basis,” said senior sports management major Tyler Garrott. “Sigma Alpha Epsilon is so thankful for everything that he has meant to our guys personally and our chapter as a whole.”
Although he may be a little “different,” Davis has shown that his uniqueness is something to be celebrated and cherished. And if loving our neighbor is the second greatest commandment, then Davis certainly is different because he does it better than most people that I have ever met.
I ask him one final question before we go our separate ways. “What do you want the people at Union to remember about you after you finally leave?”
He pauses for a second. And then he gives me a wide grin. “I want them to know that I’m a video gamer, a person who loves to post selfies, and a person who is friends with everyone. Oh, and no one can ride a bike better than me. That’s for sure!”
