Friday's edition of the Catholic Universe Bulletin contains a profile of Anne Davis, a senior at Regina High School honored as an outstanding graduate in the diocese. It's not available online, so I've printed the story below. Anne also happens to be the oldest daughter of The Plain Dealer's Dave Davis. Congratulations, Dave!
Next up for UB, a profile of Father Darrell Rupiper, who is at St. Anthony of Padua in Fairport Harbor conducting at Eco-Mission. Story will run in the June 1 edition.
Mission trip opens the world of diplomacy to Regina senior
By Wendy A. Hoke
SOUTH EUCLID — Anne Davis flies a little under the school popularity radar.
The Regina High School senior may not be the class president, but she's an obvious leader and her service to school and community hardly goes unnoticed.
She was nominated for a Northcoast Conflict Solutions Peacemaker Award for promoting peace and justice in her community. Faculty at Regina nominated her for the Julie Award, which honors an outstanding senior for academic excellence and service to the school and community. Her fellow classmates vote later this month on the nomination.
"She's an all-around kid," said Rosemary Lips, her guidance counselor at Regina. "But she's very humble," added Ellen Mathews, director of admissions.
The oldest of three children, Davis has spent the last few summers on mission trips to rural Ohio with her youth group at Church of the Savior in Cleveland Heights and during the school year with Nehemiah Missions in the inner city. She's handy with a circular saw and nailing gun and two years ago even hung drywall.
Her parents, however, have helped to shape her view of the world and how she can make a difference.
"My dad is a journalist and my mom teaches international relations at Walsh University," she said. "My dad (an editor at The Plain Dealer always focused on stories about people who needed help. He helped me to develop an awareness of others who have greater needs."
It was her mother, Koop Berry, who sparked an interest in the larger world.
A life-changing mission trip to Romania in 2005 helped to solidify her desire to pursue diplomacy as a career.
"It was the first time I saw poverty outside of the United States," she explained of her work with gypsy communities. "Even though these people and their children had so little, they were so happy. That's something we don't have here.
"After an experience like that, how do you go back to you life and be the same person?"
The trip confirmed her desire to work internationally and sparked an interest in human rights issues.
A member of the National Honor Society, Davis also is involved in the school's Debate Club, sings in a choir at her church and enjoys ballroom dancing.
She admits that her service opportunities have been more random than calculated. But her future plans are definite. She'll attend University of Pittsburgh in the fall, majoring in political science and Spanish with a minor in economics.
"I want to serve in the Peace Corps before I enter the foreign service," she said. "Being a diplomat combines what I've gotten from both my mom and my dad."
Hoke is a freelance writer.
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