Meet a Colleague: Dave Salge Dave Salge serves as a resident in counseling within the W&L Counseling Center.

W&L News Office
December 21, 2022

Q. How long have you worked at W&L?
I have been at W&L for about a year and a half. I started on July 1, 2021.

Q. What do you like most about working at W&L?
W&L is unlike any place I have lived/worked. I love getting to know the context of this setting and community. A lot of my clinical orientation stems from collaborative and narrative approaches. This feeds into my curiosity for W&L and its students.

Q. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Denville, New Jersey. I was surprised to learn that so many students at W&L are from New Jersey. It can be fun to reminisce and talk about Garden State culture with the students from there.

Q. What advice do you have for students (or parents)?
Sometimes, I meet students hyper-focused on acquiring or mastering academic content in their undergraduate years at W&L. I encourage these students to view their years here as a time to not only acquire or master content, but to build rituals, routines and patterns for how they want to sustainably live for the rest of their lives. These are important skills, and we rarely get graded on them.

Q. What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
I invest a lot in my physical wellness (e.g., run, bike, swim) and love outdoor activities (e.g., hiking, picnics). When I lived in more urban areas, I enjoyed busking. I am a big introvert and love quiet. Cooking is relaxing too.

Q. If you could live anywhere, where would you build your dream home?
This is a tough one. I am not sure I ever want to stay in one place forever. I recently read about people who rent out property that they own and then live in different parts of the country/world for brief periods of time using the profits from their owned property. This seems like a clever way to live/explore. I spend more time thinking about what my dream house would look like as opposed to where it would be. I dream about living in a tiny house a lot.

Q. Who most inspires you?
This is cheesy, but the students with whom I work inspire me. It is a gift to be a part of the lives of people confronting difficult things in their lives, overcoming difficulties and seeking change.

Q. What book are you reading now?
Currently, I am reading “Come as You Are” by Emily Nagoski. Most of my personal reading relates to my work. I rarely get into reading fiction.

Q. What is the website you visit most often?
I check the ESPN app a lot. I follow a number of sports and love the stories that accompany competition.

Q. If they made a movie about your life, who would play you?
I would want my friend, Chris from Buffalo, New York, to play me. He has known me at some key times in my life and does a funny impression of me. No professional actor, no matter how method, could measure up to Chris.

Q. If you could have coffee with one person, who would it be?
I would love to meet the college-aged version of my dad. He was a first-generation college student and dramatically changed the trajectory of our family. Most of my working career has been supporting first-generation college students. My dad has always been a bridge to that experience. I would love to know what it was like for him to be a first-generation college student as he was living it.

Q. What is your desert island food?
My dad’s side of the family has an Italian heritage, so I grew up with a lot of Italian food. I never tire of pasta.

Q. Tell us something most people don’t know about you.
I lived in Washington, D.C. for a long time and unexpectedly became a part of a gospel group. Some members of that group had high-level connections, and we performed at some big events for celebrities and politicians.

Q. What is your secret talent?
I make envelopes from old magazines/calendars. Does this count?

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