Senior Spencer Davis is from Des Moines and is a double major in theater arts and social justice studies. Davis chose Simpson College for the area of study he wanted to go into and the small size.

“This was the only school that was offering social justice as a major so that itself stuck out to me,” Davis said. “Plus, I love being close to home and this is a fun place to be, the people are nice and the fact that this is a small college, you just are not forgotten.” 

Davis’ personal favorite professors are all from his majors but he really enjoyed Mimi Kammer.

“I love everyone in the theater department, especially Mimi Kammer, who is not here this year. I also love Ann Woldt, Jennifer Nostrala, Rick Goetz; just all of them,” Davis said. “Outside of the theater department, Patti Woodward-Young, who is a social justice professor. Just everyone in my majors basically.” 

Davis has been involved in multiple activities on campus but has devoted most of his time to theater.

“I am involved in theater, a part of Simpson productions and I am also the production stage manager for the upcoming Festival of Short Plays. I am also a part of a fraternity, Kappa Theta Psi,” Davis said. “I was a part of the student government association for my first two years and On The House, which was the improv group that we had before it sort of dissolved.” 

Davis also took the opportunity to travel abroad for the first time to London during the fall semester of his senior year. Unfortunately, COVID-19 impacted Davis’ college experience, so it was hard to pick a favorite memory.

“It is really hard to say what favorite memories are, especially since COVID impacted a good chunk of it. Honestly, my only memories are from freshman year and then this semester,” Davis said. “But I would always say that The Undergrounds that Simpson theater always did. Where people just did little performances and skits, whether it was just singing a song, improv or poetry reading, those were always fun.” 

If Davis could give his younger self any advice, it would be that college life is not what the movies make it out to be.

“If you thought High School Musical was not like high school, every college movie is not like college,” Davis said. “You get those ideas of what frat life is and you join the fraternities and you are like ‘wow this really is not like it at all.’ It is not to the extreme that Neighbors performs.”

He would also like to be able to warn his younger self about COVID-19.

“Also if I told myself ‘Hey, there is going to be a pandemic in your second year, do not have high hopes.’ I would warn myself about that so I could have been a little bit more prepared,” Davis said. 

Davis said he does not have any future plans after graduation but will be looking for jobs around the Des Moines area.

“I do not have anything specifically set. I have a part-time job at Hy-Vee in Des Moines, so I will probably continue working there while I continue looking for jobs,” Davis said. “There is a lot of community theater that I want to check out and see if I can be a part of and there are also a few positions within high schools in Des Moines that are offering assistant directors for the theater department.”