Dave R. Michaux --Who is he?

My friend Dave agreed to be my next victim. We settle into his apartment on his new couches and begin.

Tell me about yourself?
I was born in Maryville, Tennessee, outside of Knoxville. It’s a lot bigger than Boiling Springs. I lived there until I was 14. I was home-schooled for 5th, 6th, and 7th grade and then I went back into public school in 8th. We moved to Bluefield, West Virginia when I was in 8th grade. Bluefield was okay. High school was a new place, new faces. I was really quiet, especially since I didn’t really know anyone and it was the start of high school.

High school, is when everyone is trying to figure out who they really are and where they belong, and I was the same. I got into the punk rock culture. Most of my friends were punks or Goths or nerds, basically the “rejects”. I was pretty much the only professing Christian among my friends. It was difficult sometimes, but it was fine. They called me the “Holy Man”.

I graduated from high school and went to Bluefield College for freshman year. I had taken some undergrad courses in high school, so I kind of just slipped in there. After a year, I transferred to Emery & Henry where I graduated from in 2009. I transferred because I wanted to be challenged more, both academically and locationally (if that’s a word). I wanted to get away from home—not that home was bad. I am blessed with great parents. I just wanted something different.

I went to a Southern Baptist Church until I was 14. Than in high school I went to a reformed Presbyterian Church. Emory & Henry is a Methodist affiliated school, and I went to a Church of Christ, which was mainly non-denominational.

I have one brother. He is 26, and he lives in Maryville, Tennessee. He and I were close growing up, but we fought a lot—the typically sibling thing. He and I were basically each other’s closest friend. When we moved to Bluefield, he stayed in Tennessee. One of the reasons he stayed was because it was going to be his senior year, and he wanted to finish out high school there. He’s cool. He has red hair and blue eyes, just like me. He kind of was the black sheep in the family, and I guess that make me sometimes the “goody two shoes”.



Did you move around a lot?
I moved schools a lot. For kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd, I went to Fort Craig. Then the school system there changed to a year round schedule, and my brother was in a different school and so we would be on different schedules and my parents weren’t big fans of that. So I moved to another elementary school in town. Than I was home schooled. And than I went to Maryville middle, and than we moved. And than I switched colleges and now I’m here.

Are your parents divorced?
My parents divorced when I was child, toddler, babyish thing. The first that I remember was my mom and stepdad’s wedding. I was the ring bearer! I don’t remember the divorce. I don’t remember the in between stages. For all intensive purposes, my stepfather is my dad. Just not biologically. He’s pretty much my dad though.

My brother and I would go and see our dad almost every other weekend. Or if my parents were going out of town, than we would go over to his house.

There is a lot that is--I’m not ashamed of necessarily, it’s just—family history. Some recent history, and some not. I don’t know my own level comfortableness with discussing it. Everyone has their family stuff that they don’t like talking about.

Do you want to get married and have kids one day?
Absolutely I do. I would want no less than two, no more than five. Five is maybe even pushing it. I want a baby girl. I want a daddy’s girl. I just want a little girl that will look up at me and be like: “Daddy, I want this.” And than my heart is going to melt. And it’ll break my wallet. But I’ll love her.

Yeah I want to get married. It would be wonderful.

How did you come to Gardner Webb?
I came to Gardner Webb because Tom Viall came here, and he was a good friend of mine from Bluefield College. The first couple of times I came to Gardner Webb, it was just to visit him. He was always trying to convince me to come here, saying that I should just come here for seminary. I guess it worked. But than I came here and he left, and that kind of sucks. But I’m here, and it’s a good place. Good people. Good education. And it’s a beautiful campus. There’s not too much concrete. Also, it’s a good education for not too big of a price. And it wasn’t too far from Virginia. And I knew there was going to be this girl named Courtney, and I had to meet her. (I love shout outs)

What do you want to do with your life?
Wow. I want to love God and love people. That drives everything I want to do. The end.

Are you dating someone right now?
No.

How do you relieve stress?
I relieve stress by hanging out with my friends. And/or shooting zombies in the face. And/or eating. Mostly, just relaxing with my friends. I do whatever they are doing. Prayer.

What irritates you in other people?
It irritates me when other people have a disregard for any group of people. And it irritates me when people are okay with ignorance and mediocrity. Also, chewing with your mouth open.

What kinds of things do you like to do?
I like to be with people.

I like to debate theology.

Play video games.

Talk about the eminent zombie apocalypse.

Eat food.

I like to pray.

I like to read the Bible with people.

I like to cook. I cooked chicken the other day, and that was really fun. I like to cook any kind of dish. If I have a recipe for it than I can make it. (Here Dave gets really excited and pulls out some expensive oil that he had bought for cooking. We smell it and than continue the interview)

I enjoy serving people tea, and other things.

I enjoy eating cookies.

I like to drive and take road trips.

I like traveling in general.

I enjoy running sound.

I enjoy being in a punk rock band. I was in one in high school. It was called “Scantily Plaid”. It’s a play on words. There was this guy Michael, and he was in his boxers and someone was like “Hey look! You’re scantily plaid!” And the name stuck.

I enjoy listening to people. Whether it’s listening to them being excited about something or their troubles.

I enjoy good music. (What’s good music?) It depends on my mood.

I enjoy fire.

I enjoy slip and slides.

I enjoy fun noodles.

I enjoy comic books.

I’m awesome.

I enjoy your face. The end.

What do you want people to know about you?
See above answers.

If you could give one piece of advice to the world, what would it be?
Love people. Can it be a command? (Yes.) Then—love people.

If there was one thing in the world that you could change, what would it be?
That people would love people. With agape love. (Why?) Because agape love originates from the lover. All the other loves—eros, philos—are conditional on the person receiving the love. But agape stems from the giver, and ultimately stems from God, and is therefore never ending. And that’s the love that I want people to love each other with. It’s not a timid love.