NSUCO - The Visionary Fall 2010

Dr. Woods: The Early Years I grew up in a variety of places since my fa- ther was an officer in the U.S. Air Force. My parents were living in France when my momwas due with me, and because it was suspected that I would be an Rh factor blue baby, she was taken to the main hos- pital in Wiesbaden, Germany. I started life with multiple transfusions as a tiny in- fant―well, maybe not so tiny. We came back to the United States when I was three because my father was sta- tioned at Pope Air Force Base near Pine- hurst, North Carolina. This happened to be the location where my father’s family had lived for several generations. When I was starting first grade, my father was then transferred to Kadena Air Force Base in Ok- inawa, Japan, where I had the luxury of liv- ing for about three years. My biggest thrill while I was there was that I found an old, but live, grenade from World War II out- side the base near the housing area. Being the good little Cub Scout that I was, I ran as fast as I could to the marine guard station and took them to the location, which earned me a nice shiny Cub Scout badge. When we returned to the States, I had my first shocking―or I should stay sting- ing―“back in the USA” experience. In Ok- inawa, bumblebees, for some reason, do not sting, so these little creatures became excellent little pets. As you can imagine, I was in for a big surprise when I picked one up at our new home in Rome, New York. The second shock was going from the tropics and cyclones to snow―and LOTS of it. Unfortunately, my dad passed away sev- eral years after we arrived in New York, so my mom and I moved back to North Car- olina to an almost completed two-story log cabin that had been built by hand from the land by my parents. We also had a house in Miami, Florida, which is where my father first met my mom while she was working at the Miami Herald and he was attending the Univer- sity of Miami. So after only a few months living out in the woods after my dad’s the VISIONARY • Summer/Fall 2010 8 Dr. Dave Woods ... In His Own WORDS In this revealing journalistic self-portrait, Albert D. “Dave” Woods, O.D., M.S., FAAO, associate professor of optometry, shares the life path that led him to pursue a career at NSU’s College of Optometry.