Southwestern Union Record

Rob Davis likes to stay busy. At an early age he discovered that high energy levels and an active brain could either get him into trouble or be channeled into more productive avenues. Joining the Boy Scouts and quickly attaining Eagle Scout status, Rob was soon involved with training his fellow Scouts. Along the way he discovered that teaching was just as much fun as learning.

Fast forward a few years and you’ll find Rob still energetically pursuing his philosophy of an active lifestyle. Moving from his hometown of San Diego to Texas for love, the newlywed enrolled in the nursing program at Southwestern Adventist University. While working at Huguley Memorial Medical Center, Rob graduated with an associate degree in nursing before deciding to continue with his schooling. Now a nurse in the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Cleburne, Rob is also attending school full-time as he finishes his BSN degree at Southwestern. He plans to graduate in May before continuing on to become a nurse practitioner. Eventually, he wants to teach.

Despite his best intentions, Rob laughingly claims his active mind and vocal opinions might have made trouble for him if his religion professors at Southwestern had been less patient. As Davis recalls, “There were two teachers in particular, Dr. Kilgore and Dr. Rico, who would stay after class and talk with me, sometimes for hours. I’m sure I drove them crazy with my arguments and concerns,” he grins, “because I didn’t always wait until after class. I grew up in the Catholic Church; I was an altar boy, I attended Catholic private schools. I wasn’t sure my professors were right, but I had a real desire to understand, to realize my personal faith. They recognized that. They were so patient with me.”

Dr. Kilgore has a slightly different perspective. “Rob is a bright young man with an inquisitive mind who wanted to examine his religious beliefs. What I appreciated most about Rob was that his questions were not simply a means for debate but he was sincerely searching for the foundations of his faith. He was a frequent visitor to my office and our conversations were always straightforward, honest, and refreshing. I wish every student was willing to explore the meaning of their faith as Rob did.” Not long after these conversations, the young scholar chose to rededicate his life to Christ and was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Now grounded in his faith and active in his local church, Rob’s energetic mind does even more than drive him to work hard and go to school. This January, Rob’s first article in a series on hypothermia, entitled “Big Chill,” was published in the American Journal of Nursing. An active outdoorsman, Davis pitched the idea to the Journal when he realized that both he and others could learn more from his experiences and research. He also teaches a class on basic interpretation of EKG to fellow nursing majors at Southwestern. Because of some minor personal experience with hypothermia and his research on the subject, Rob is also on the Texas Health Resources Committee of Hypothermia Protocol.

For fun, Davis likes to canoe the Colorado and hike “fourteeners” (mountains over 14,000 feet) such as those topping his completion list, Mt. Whitney and Wheeler Mountain. Recently Rob decided to start training for a local half-marathon. The positive experience led him to sign up and start training for his first triathlon next October.

When asked what prompted this newest interest, Davis explained, “I wanted to be healthier than my patients. I wanted to tell them that a healthier lifestyle works and I’m proof. You need to feed your body and your mind.” Rob grins, “You know the best part? All this training for the triathlon helps me study better.”