Payoff Season for Fifth- Year Seniors - Old Dominion University

t
biochemistry); Eoin Whelan
(biology); and John Adam
(mathematics). I apologize for leaving
some out.
Q: How did you come to join
Army ROTC?
A: Believe it or not, I did not come
to ODU with any intention of
joining ROTC. A month before my
first semester, my mother and I came
to turn in paperwork. It just so
happens that the ROTC office is
strategically located next to the
admissions office. So, my mother and
I, both being naturally curious people,
went inside just to get some
information and ask a few questions.
Next thing I knew, I was sitting across
from a recruiter – who does his job
very well. I considered nursing,
briefly. However, I quickly realized
that was not my calling and that I
really wanted to pursue my desire to
be a doctor – a desire I had formed
when I was 16.
Q: Can you tell us about your
mentor, Dr. Mary?
A: Dr. Mary and I were introduced
in fall 2011 at an alumni awards
dinner. When I heard I would be
meeting a doctor who had graduated
from ODU and had been a member
of ROTC, I was ecstatic. Little did I
know how much of an impact that
doctor would have on me. Dr. Mary is
such a lively and giving woman. Her
greatest pieces of advice are, “Do the
right thing,” and “Surround yourself
with excellence.” She is definitely
excellent and her mentorship is
invaluable to me. I have asked her for
advice on several occasions and will
continue to do so. In truth, words
cannot do justice to her character and
to how much she has come to mean
to me in such a short time.
Presidential Medals Go to NROTC
Students For Heroic Rescue
Jason Benning and Joshua Moore,
two Naval ROTC students at ODU,
were each awarded a Presidential
Medal by John Broderick, the university’s
president, for the heroism they
exhibited in rescuing a motorist and
her 2-year-old son from an automobile
that had crashed and caught on
fire on I-264 in Norfolk.
The presentation ceremony was in
February, several weeks after the students’
nighttime rescue.
President Broderick applauds the Presidential Medalists,
Benning (left) and Moore.
Benning, a Midshipman 1st Class, and Moore, an officer’s candidate, were driving
home from evening classes in separate cars when they came upon a single-car crash.
The two helped to get the 26-year-old driver from the smoke-filled car and then returned
to get her son from the rear seat. The car burst totally into flames less than a minute after
the child was pulled free.
“We always stress to our NROTC midshipmen and officer candidates the importance
of being men and women of action,” said Capt. Thomas Halley, Hampton Roads NROTC
consortium commanding officer. “I am very proud of the exceptional character Benning
and Moore possess, and the bravery and selflessness they displayed.”
Both young men are mechanical engineering technology majors in ODU’s Frank
Batten College of Engineering and Technology.
Homearama Charity House
To Benefit the Globe at ODU
The Homearama event in Norfolk this fall sponsored by
the Tidewater Builders Association will include a feature
that could bring big benefits to the new Global Friendship
House planned at Old Dominion University.
A local builder, Strickland Homes, is constructing a Charity
House that will be sold as part of the Homearama,
which will be in the East Beach community of Norfolk’s Ocean View Oct. 13-28. Much of
the labor and supplies for the Charity House have been donated, and proceeds from
the sale will go toward the new Global Friendship House, which has been dubbed the
Globe.
Also, there will be a preview party at the Charity House the evening of Oct. 12 featuring
international foods and drinks, and proceeds from ticket sales ($45 prior to day
of party) will go to the Globe. See www.globalfriendshiphouse.org.
Kathy Hardison ’71, director of the Global Friendship Ventures organization and the
ODU Chaplain for Global Student Friendship, said the group owns land on 43rd Street
near Hampton Boulevard and has plans for a four-story Globe that would house 72 students.
She said the group is $1.5 million short of the $3.5 million needed for the housing
project.
“The Homearama event will highlight to the public the fact that 110 nations are represented
at ODU” Hardison said.
WWW.ODU.EDU 13