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Editor's Note: Thomas Ross, a Greensboro native and president of Davidson College, will give the commencement speech to UNCG graduates Friday. This transcribed interview with Ross took place last week at Davidson College.

DAVIDSON — I got hit by a car when I was 11.

A lady was speeding up Berkley, and I was riding my bike out of the driveway when she hit me. I had a broken arm and a deep serious cut on my right leg that went all the way to the bone.

Having been a lawyer and a judge, I can tell you what happened. But I didn't know it at the time. My folks and the insurance company had reached some sort of settlement, and according to the law, any settlement involving a minor must be approved by a judge.

So, I was asked to testify, and I went to the old courthouse in Greensboro. It was beautiful.

Richardson Preyer was on the bench. I only knew him by reputation, he went to my church. But I remember getting on the witness stand, taking the oath and talking about what happened.

It made a real impression on me. The room. But also Judge Preyer. I saw leadership in him. I saw a real statesman.

Rich, my parents and my oldest brother are gone. But they have been hugely influential in my life. So have my wife, my children, my two older brothers. I don't know how you keep someone like me on track without people like that.

My mother, Mary, was an amazing, loving person. She raised four boys, I was the youngest, my oldest brother died young.

He was in junior high. It was an accident. He was doing a chemistry experiment or something and he was overcome by the fumes of carbon tetrachloride in his room after my parents had gone to bed.

I look at it from the vantage point of a 6-year-old. That's how old I was when he died.

Charles was the star of the family. At least at that point in my life. On my birthday, he took me to the drug store up on Walker Avenue, and right when we walked in, he said, 'You can have anything you want.' I probably got baseball cards. But it was the most amazing feeling.

With him gone, though, all of us felt we had to fill that void. And when it came time for me to go to college, I knew I needed to come to Davidson.

My dad had been here. He was part of the Class of '37. You know, he'd say, "The Great Centennial Class and don't you forget it!' My brothers Bobby and Billy had gone to other colleges, I was the last hope to go to Davidson.

But I wasn't sure I wanted to go. And when I got here, I wasn't sure this is where I thought I should be — or wanted to be.

Look at my transcripts. Compare them to many of my classmates.

Mine would not give you the slightest indication that I would be the president of the college.

I joke about this now. But it's true. I didn't understand the value of education. But then came a professor my sophomore year. He transformed my view of who I was and what potential I might have.

That was George Labban.

I went on this classics seminar abroad. Seven students. Two cars.

We traveled around Greece and Italy, we had pounds and pounds of books. It was the most rigorous academic experience I ever had.

He made me believe in myself. And when I came back, the combination of the semesterlong seminar and sudden thirst for more knowledge stayed alive. It is still stamped on me.

George, Professor Labban, became like a second father to me. He still lives here in town, and I still see him. He's in his 80s, and you know, he has never lost that idea that I might be worth something.

Poor guy.

I've been asked, "Surely you have a life plan." And I thought, "Who me?" I never had a plan. What I had is a commitment.

I got to be doing something to make things better in some way. I believe if you have a focus in your life, then the opportunities will come to you. That is, if you keep your eyes open.

When I had to make the decision whether to leave the bench and go to the foundation, I called my son, Tommy, and asked him.

He told me, "Dad, you always said that was a dream of yours and you always told me to follow my dreams. Don't you think you ought to follow yours?" And I did what he said.

At Davidson College, when it got to the last interview, I said, "Well, if you offer me this job. I'll take it whatever the terms are. But don't offer it to me unless you're really sure that I'm the right person. I don't want to be here if I'm not."

Not the best negotiating strategy. But that's how I felt.

Being at Davidson felt bizarre at first. I'd walk myself to the house at night and think, 'This is really weird. This is where I went.' But now, it's getting comfortable. Now, I think I do belong here.

After we won the Southern Conference tournament in Charleston, I walked in front of the students, pumped my first and yelled, "Yeah!" That's when they started chanting, "Tom Ross! Tom Ross! Tom Ross!"

That brought me to tears.

I don't know how I'm doing. It's like being a judge. No one is going to tell you, "You're really bad at this." You just do the best you can.

But it feels right.

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com