GCU Today Magazine - November 2017

“ T hose Lewis boys. They’ll never amount to anything.” Those words — they’ll never amount to anything — have been the sticks and stones that have driven David Lewis’ life. The Missouri-based Grand Canyon University online student, who is working on his Doctor of Education degree in Organizational Leadership, didn’t have it so easy growing up. He was just 14 when his parents divorced — when his world ended. “My mom moved back to Europe with my youngest brother,” said Lewis, who grew up an Army brat. His father subsequently moved David and his younger brother to Odessa, Texas. And that’s where his father — who struggled with alcohol problems, left them. “He said he was going to Wyoming.” Lewis and his brother? They had nowhere to go. A rescue mission took them in, but, “it was not a family rescue mission. It was all men — lots of drunks and winos.” Separate families took in the brothers. Lewis, who was placed with a single mother and her three children, was able to complete his sophomore year in high school, but then the world started calling. “After 10th grade, I decided to go on my own,” Lewis said. “… I lied about my age and started working on a drilling rig.” He worked in the oil fields until he was 17 and then ran into the family he had left. When they said they were moving back to Alabama, Lewis rode with them and ended up working a much sought-after job in the shipyards before taking yet another big life turn. This time, he did a stint in the Marine Corps Reserve, where a gunnery sergeant sat him down and pushed him to finish high school and complete his general education degree. It was the first time Lewis realized the importance of education. His Marine Corps Reserve career was short-lived. With his GED in hand, he returned to Texas, where his journey began, and to the oil fields. It was when he almost was killed while working on a drilling rig that he decided to make a change. He was just 22; he had lived a lifetime. He returned to the military, this time B Y L A N A S W E E T E N - S H U L T S Abandoned as a teen, former Army firefighter David Lewis has spent his life in service to others and to his education On line Helping hand 24 • GCU MAGAZ I NE