Living life to the fullest
Kaleb Davis skis, builds houses and plays soccer, all while studying at Bethel
Kaleb Davis signs the final paper to become a Bethel student. The culmination of a crazy childhood, and lots of hard work. The odds that Davis is even studying at Bethel in the first place are incredible. Bethel was not even on his list of top 15 schools until a last-minute phone call with the soccer coach convinced him to come here. Originally from Florida, Davis grew up in a family with 9 other siblings, Micah, Drew, Megan, Josh Meredith, Joe, Matthew, and John. The house was 1,000 square feet. He shared a bedroom with all of his siblings. Homeschooled, he learned motivation and became self-disciplined.
His childhood was often hectic bouncing back and forth from Colorado to Florida. He remembers collecting sand dollars and swimming with Dolphins, then heading to Colorado to ski. “ We just loved life. We had the time of our lives growing up.” Whether it was backyard wrestling or playing games, they seemed to enjoy what they were doing. It took a lot of work for Davis’s parents to raise 9 children. Mom was an encourager, and Dad kept things in order. When asked how they did it, “they trusted in the lord a lot.”
Davis has many hobbies, one of which is skiing. Skiing started at two years old, Davis skied 30 days a year as a kid. At six he was skiing down the hardest runs, the black diamonds. At nine he was doing 360 flips. Nowadays, Davis is shooting to become a competitive big mountain skier. “I don’t know if there is anything that makes me feel as free as when I am skiing down a mountain, “said Davis. “Nothing beats skiing,” Davis remembers doing flips on the trampoline as a kid, trying to master that next trick in skiing. It was all that he could think about as a kid.
He is also a very good soccer player. He plays here at Bethel as a midfielder. He started off playing at the YMCA for the junior rapids. Did not start playing club soccer till age 13. He remembers playing against his brother and how his brother had to “wear a life jacket because he bruised his spleen.”. Davis’s favorite Bethel soccer memory he recalls is playing against his friend from Colorado who plays for St. Olaf. Although they did not win the game, Davis “and I think I did a pretty good job at defending him.” James Oberholtzer, Davis’s soccer teammate, spoke on Davis’s leadership within the soccer team. “Just like if we’re losing in a game he never likes, let that affect how he plays, like if we’re down a few goals. like he doesn’t it doesn’t the scoreboard does, like doesn’t matter. He still plays just as hard And then that rubs off on to other players too.” Davis is a leader.
During all this time during childhood, Davis was always dreaming about building a house in Colorado. In eighth grade, he recalls really liking designing houses and cars. Dad thought Davis should go and study architecture. Davis logged on to the computer and found an online architectural program, Chief Architect. From there he watched a few YouTube videos and was on to designing the house. He started out designing properties, and then the opportunity came. Dad bought a property near Winter Park, Colorado. An architect and engineer came and looked at Davis’s designs, gave him the ok, and construction on the house began.
It started with the excavation of all the trees. Footers were placed in the ground. Concrete was poured. The beams were all put in place. It slowly came to fruition. Pea gravel was placed. The plumbing system, which Davis fully designed himself, was built. The drywall was put up. Eventually, as time passed the project came closer and closer to being finished. The floors were finished. 5,000 square feet of Davis’s dream came to fruition.
Through all of his hobbies, Kaleb is a leader. He leads SHIFT, a bible study for freshmen. He is one of the most vocal leaders on the soccer team. He always has a smile on his face and seems to bring out the best in others.
