The Evolution of Mikey Thompson '06

    By the time he graduated from Collegiate in 2006, he had become one of the most accomplished athletes ever to wear the Green and Gold.
    He reaped multiple All-Prep League, All-VISAA, and All-American honors in lacrosse, led his team to the state title his senior year, and signed to play for the University of Virginia.
    In the fall, he also earned league and state honors, contributed mightily to two state championships, and became one of quarterback Russell Wilson’s go-to guys.
    Yep, the world was immensely bright.  
    There was nothing but sunshine and rainbows ahead.
    Then, he met reality up close and personal.
    “What I went through in the next seven years are things that I never imagined I would experience in a lifetime,” he told a rapt audience of students and faculty Thursday during an address in the Centennial Alumni Speakers Series.
    “The stories are real, but I have an important message:  No matter how hard the circumstance, we always have the ability to choose how we respond.”
    Then he cited examples, some highly publicized, some personal, but all of which cut to the quick and required him to grow in ways he never could have imagined.
    He spoke of the joy of playing for UVA, sharing the experience with his lacrosse family, and succeeding in a challenging academic environment.
    Then, his world was shattered by the suicide of his teammate Will Barrow.
    Two years later, his cousin Perrin Thompson, a 2008 Collegiate graduate and Furman University sophomore, was diagnosed with lymphoma and underwent a series of intensive surgeries and treatments that left her debilitated at times but unbowed.
    As he came to grips with the family crisis, word arrived that Yeardley Love, a good friend, had been killed in her apartment, and George Huguely, Thompson’s teammate, had been charged.
    “It was an unimaginable phone call,” Thompson said of the jolt when he received the tragic news.  “Was Yeardley really dead?  Did George really kill her?  Is our season over?
    “The weeks that followed were the worst of my life.”
    After his eligibility ran out, Thompson became a student assistant at UVA and helped coach the Cavaliers to the NCAA championship, a goal that had eluded him as a player.
    The Denver Outlaws (Major League Lacrosse) drafted him, but a series of knee injuries that required extensive surgery prematurely ended his career.
    Through his trials, Thompson remained resolute.  
    He looked for the positives and refused to dwell on negatives.
    He found enlightenment rather than succumbing to self-pity.
    “You draw on the character you’re building every day,” he explained.
    “I believe in competition.  Competition doesn’t start on the field.  If you have the correct mindset, you’ll get through anything.  
    “There’s an African proverb that says, ‘A man will show his true colors in adversity’”
    In time, he helped start the Will Barrow Memorial Flag Football Tournament to benefit the UVA Help Line, an anonymous, confidential telephone service to assist students in need.
    He’s drawn strength from Perrin’s spirit and shared in the joy of her graduation from Furman and marriage to Joseph Hall.
    After Yeardley Love’s death, he resolved to bring out the very best about the sport to a public, which all too often hears only about the worst.
    And he returned to coaching as an assistant at Christopher Newport University and a mentor with Lacrosse the Nations, an organization that has brought the sport as well as hope to underserved youth in Nicaragua and Peru.
    Could the 18-year-old Mikey Thompson have ever envisioned his  27-year-old self?
    “Absolutely not,” he said in an interview following his presentation.  “Growing up, you think, it’ll never happen to you.  I could never imagine one of those things happening, let alone four or five.
    “It takes the element of fear out of your life when you’ve experienced the worst and you’re still on your feet, happy, and doing what you loYou feel you can deal with anything that comes your way.
    “My message to younger people is that, like it or not, something will happen.
    “That’s life, but the more you prepare on the front end, the better you’ll be afterwards.”
                                          -- Weldon Bradshaw