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Printer-Friendly ModeA believer in student potential, Thompson retires after 38 years
April 14, 2008 —
In all the positions he's held at this campus, Dick Thompson has said his favorite part of the job has always been dealing with the students, and all it takes is a look around his office to realize how much he believes that.
After 38 years at SVSU, the former admissions representative, assistant registrar, registrar, director of admissions, dean of students, and university ombudsman is retiring from SVSU. Not bad for a man who started off as a part-time college student with initial plans for a degree in engineering.
The youngest child in the family, Thompson was enrolled part time at Ferris State, commuting to classes in order to stay at home and help out his mother financially. Once his oldest brother returned home, Thompson enrolled full time at the college, and came upon a realization fairly quickly.
"I made a decision midway through my third year to leave engineering and go into education. I had enough people tell me that I should think about going into teaching or coaching, so I did all that and enjoyed it. Plus, I have a feeling that I would have made a very average engineer."
He traded in his classes in engineering for classes in teaching with an emphasis on business, due to initial uneasiness about his new career choice.
"I wasn't absolutely sure that it was going to be teaching, which is why I went with the business background. I thought I could become a certified teacher, but I took the business route primarily because I was familiar with the subject from high school, but also because I could either go into teaching, or branch off into a whole new field."
After teaching high school math, business, and history courses in Owosso, Thompson started getting anxious to move on and try different things, which led him to SVSU in 1970.
"To be brutally honest, I knew a few people here, prior to 1970. I had been teaching high school for five years, and I decided maybe I should do something different."
He called his SVSU contacts to see if there was a job opening. Something was bothering him and he thought that the young college might hold the remedy.
"There was no message from God Almighty about what it was, but I was just a little bit antsy. I just knew I should be doing something else."
Thompson credits his decision to go into teaching, along with his decisions to fulfill the many roles he has held on campus with good timing, even better advice, and having qualified people around to guide him.
"I ended up in education because when I was a young man, someone tapped me on the shoulder and said I should think about doing this or that. I've always been lucky enough to receive good advice, and I never forgot about that. After 45 years in the workforce, you just don't forget, whether it's advice from a teacher, a coach, or a dean of students.
Making the transition initially from high school to college was easy for Thompson, since his first role at the University was as an admissions representative, helping high school students make the same transition which he himself had just made.
Despite the long list of positions he has held, Thompson was still unable to pick the one which he felt he enjoyed the most.
"I enjoyed every one of them. I think that some of them were a little better fit for me than others, but I don't think that, of those positions, that there wasn't one I didn't enjoy. I think the ones where I was able to relate to the students the closest on a day-to-day basis were the ones I really enjoyed the most."
Along with plans to put his engineering skills to good use and work on things around the house, Thompson revealed that although he's stepping back, he will not be walking away from education. At least, not before taking some well-deserved time off.
"I have a few things in mind for retirement. I'm a hunter and a fisherman. I will probably do more of that, and I can safely say I'll be spending a few of the colder months in a much warmer climate. I would very much like to travel as well, to parts of the country I haven't spent much time in."
Despite the various positions he has held on this campus, and all of the things he has accomplished, he kept stressing the importance that he held for those connections which he says he felt with students.
"You always want to do something because you think that you have some skills that are helpful in whatever your work role is, and I guess I always felt that I had those, being an old coach from way back. To be honest, it's self-satisfaction, because teaching is not the best paying job, but it's also not the worst. You should feel some value in mentoring and educating people at whatever level."
According to Thompson, the job had its good days and bad days.
"I think it's always just important to roll with the punches, and I learned how to do that. As a result, I can say that there was not one aspect of my job I disliked."
Thompson has a simple philosophy that has served him well:
"I've always said that what's worked for me is that it's important to have a strong work ethic, that no one owes you a living, that you can make your way for yourself just by being a good employee, and that other people will notice that. Working here for this long, I've realized that in addition to helping students, you also have to empower them."