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Walking through a crocodile pit is no easy task, but it can seem easy compared to helping students navigate their college careers.
Just ask Lenora Hicks Thompson - she's done both. In her 23 years as a counselor and counseling services administrator, she's helped many students avoid pitfalls in their educational pursuits.
In fact, those students are the people she admires most, Thompson said, "because many of them are faced with challenges so complex that a decision to delay their education would be easy to make. But they persevere."
Thompson, who has served as director of counseling services since 1993, said her most memorable campus experience occurred in the early 1980s, when she received funding to bring a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit to campus for Black History Month, titled "Black Women: Achievements Against the Odds."
"It chronicled the contributions of black women in the fields of medicine, sciences, education, law, cultural arts, fine arts and other key areas," she said. "It remained on campus for one month. Many students, faculty, staff and individuals from the community volunteered their time to set it up and to keep it available to the campus and community. It was a very successful project because of the contributions of many people."
- James J. Lidington
Birth date: April 6, 1950
Hometown: Paterson, N.J.
Other positions at the university: counselor, 1979-86; associate director of Counseling Center, 1986-93
Education: Shaw University, B.A., Spanish, 1971; M.Ed., urban education, counseling concentration, 1972; Ed.D., humanistic applications of the behavioral sciences (counseling)
Children: Christopher John Thompson, 28, an ODU alumnus
Pet peeve: Individuals who refuse to accept responsibility for their mistakes and then blame innocent bystanders for the problem
Favorite place on campus: If I'm feeling energetic and social I love meeting and greeting people in the Webb Center cafeteria. If I'm feeling pensive, reflective or exhausted, I love sitting at Whitehurst Beach and getting "centered" by the water.
Last dumb thing you did:
While on vacation in Gambia, West Africa, I visited Katchikally. Local legend is that if you visit Katchikally and the crocodiles come out, you will receive good luck. And if you are brave enough to climb into the pit and walk around, you will be directed to a special altar where you make a special wish which will come true. On my visit they were there, and I walked ever so guardedly through the maze of crocodiles, stepping over snouts, bodies and tails. My wish has been realized, but I will never take the crocodile walk again.
Most treasured possession in your office: A picture gallery of students I have had the pleasure of working with over the years. Some have sent pictures of important times in their lives since leaving Old Dominion.
Last book read: "Paradise" by Toni Morrison
Favorite movie: "Mo' Better Blues"
Favorite quotation: "Give an individual a fish and they eat for a day. Teach them to fish and they eat for a lifetime."
Greatest accomplishment: That I am the woman I am today. I am a product of a Northern, urban, inner-city environment where little girls of color were not encouraged to excel. I remember my guidance counselor telling me that I should not pursue college but try to find a job in which I could use my hands. Luckily, my parents had a different vision for their children.
Favorite music: Anything from the Motown old-school genre, as well as jazz and gospel
Your idea of the perfect day off: Morning flight to NYC, brunch, theater matinee, browse shops on 5th Avenue/Rockefeller Center, return flight home, light dinner, bed, reflections of the day, sleep
Hobbies: Collecting black porcelain dolls, going to auctions
Favorite TV show: Anything on the International Film Channel
Favorite meal: Smoked Oyster Benachin, a West African dish
Vice you'll admit to: Nice shoes are one of my weaknesses
Favorite sport: Double Dutch competition
Favorite area restaurants: Kincaid's on weekdays and Steinhilber's on weekends
Last vacation: My last "big" vacation was when I celebrated my 50th birthday with a trip to Cairo, Egypt.
Last smart thing you did: Changed my investment portfolio
Worst job: Working on an assembly line at a plastic factory placing medical tubing in boxes.
What profession, other than the one you're in, would you like to attempt: I think I would like to receive training to become a doula. I would enjoy helping expectant mothers through the birthing process, witnessing the birth of a baby and assisting women with their new role of mother.
What would you want your epitaph to be: She helped to make a difference in the lives of those she met.
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