WHEN SCHOOL’S OUT — When Luisa Davis isn’t counseling at the Warsaw Community High School, she can be found enjoying time with her grandchild, watching movies and old musicals or reading. (Photo by Elisa Walker)

WARSAW — As the saying goes, death and taxes are the only certain things in life, but what of change? Everything will change — homes, people, society — and it’s inevitable.

Nothing ever stays the same, which is why Luisa Davis has embraced it in her career and personal life.

The co-director of school counseling drives from Fort Wayne to Warsaw Community High School, excited for new experiences and thought-provoking questions to come her way.

As life has a funny way of working out, being a counselor hadn’t been in her plans. In California, Davis earned her undergraduate degree and worked as a park ranger. Giving interpretive talks about nature made her comfortable with speaking in front of people, which stuck with her until she came to Indiana with her husband, John.

During the six-month period between moving from California to Fort Wayne, Davis traveled with her husband in his semi truck across the country. It was an exhilarating experience that took her as far as New York and Florida.

“It was amazing to me. I was born and raised in California but never really left the state until I married John,” said Davis. “I wouldn’t have gone to any other state, which is weird. My parents are from another country, so it’s funny to say that I’ve traveled to Mexico and South America, but never left California in the U.S.”

Seeing being a park ranger in Indiana wouldn’t be feasible, she took a job as a produce manager.

“When you work in any kind of retail, you have your regular customers, especially at a grocery store. It’s the same people week after week,” Davis explained. “They come talk to you, look for you and share all sorts of things.

“I used to joke that ‘Tell me your problems’ was written across my forehead. They could tell me their story. I had people saying I shouldn’t be working in a grocery store, but a counselor. So that’s what I ended up doing.”

After working 25 years as a produce manager, Davis set out to earn a masters in counseling and took her position at WCHS. The people she works with and mentors every day make the long drive worth it. The warm homey office comes with a sense of family, which makes going to work more of a “want to” rather than a “have to.”

The constant change, whether it be researching answers to questions she doesn’t know or keeping up to date with new students entering high school, is what Davis best thrives in. It forces her to step out of what is known and venture into the unknown.

When she first started, Davis noticed the walls in other counselors’ offices. Pinned together in a collage were notes and photos from students who had expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the counselors.

At the time Davis thought she’d never get a wall like that, but now there is a wall in her office that overflows with thank you notes, letters and updates on previous students’ lives. It means a lot to know they still remember her.

“I remember where those notes come from,” said Davis. “They’re proof that I can make a difference in somebody’s life. That’s what keeps me going. I love to see change in people, so anything I can do to inspire change and to get people motivated, I do it.”