{"id":83347,"date":"2023-02-08T15:00:35","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T15:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=83347"},"modified":"2023-02-08T16:16:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T16:16:17","slug":"meet-uris-official-greeter-verna-lafreniere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/meet-uris-official-greeter-verna-lafreniere\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet 溏心vlog免费B站’s official greeter, Verna Lafreniere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Feb. 8, 2023 \u2013 If Verna Lafreniere were to write a book, the Exeter <\/strong>resident would title it \u201cHurdles and Rainbows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But those who see Lafreniere in action as an information aide at the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Robert J. Higgins Welcome Center might think her life has been mostly filled with rainbows. Before saying a word to prospective students and their parents and many other visitors, Lafreniere puts them at ease with a beaming smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors to 溏心vlog免费B站 and inspired students and staff in her role as Rhody\u2019s greeter and information provider. Few know that behind those smiles, there is a relentless determination to remain optimistic and be an extraordinary public servant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are days when I get down, but it\u2019s much easier to be happy,\u201d said Lafreniere, who started as a student at 溏心vlog免费B站 in the fall of 1971. \u201cSo many say that \u2018you only live once,\u2019 but I say \u2018you only die once, so live.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That short statement summarizes the numerous times Lafreniere has decided to live a fulfilling, happy and inspiring life instead of one governed by pain and loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
AT YOUR SERVICE: Verna Lafreniere greets the Baxter family from Belvidere, New Jersey, during a recent visit. From left are Leala and Scott Baxter and their daughter, Natalie. 溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Nora Lewis.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

During her first year as a student at 溏心vlog免费B站, she bought a motorcycle to save money for her commute to and from Exeter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the enjoyment of those daily, scenic commutes was short lived. During her second semester, the 18-year-old\u2019s life nearly ended when a drunken driver crashed into her, causing her bike to explode in flames. If it weren\u2019t for her sister, Vivian, following behind Verna on her own motorcycle and then yanking her from the flames, Lafreniere said she probably would have died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was given Last Rites at South County Hospital, and then transferred to Rhode Island Hospital where she stayed for six months, enduring multiple surgeries on both legs, a foot, and shoulder. She was treated for burns that covered 38 percent of her body and spent almost two years in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then one day, luck or divine intervention came calling. While she sat in her wheelchair in the front yard of her family\u2019s home, she saw a white van drive by, and then return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe driver got out and told me he was from the state\u2019s Vocational Rehabilitation Program and he asked me if I would like to continue my college studies,\u201d Lafreniere said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said \u201cyes,\u201d to this guardian angel, whose name Lafreniere no longer remembers. He helped her register for classes at the Community College of Rhode Island and learn how to get in and out of her car from her wheelchair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then as she grew stronger, moving from a wheelchair, to braces and finally to crutches, she transferred to Rhode Island College, where she earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in elementary and special education in 1978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to her determination and another person in her life, Lafreniere has been able to use those art-adorned, wooden crutches to get around for 51 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRussell Baker was my physical therapist, and while he was working with me, I thought he was mean. He worked me so hard. But oh God, I love him now, he really pushed me,\u201d Lafreniere said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She taught for a short time at South Kingstown\u2019s now-closed South Road School, but then left to tutor students at her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tutored 54 students over the years and about the only thing I couldn\u2019t teach was calculus,\u201d Lafreniere said. \u201cIt was very rewarding, seeing the light bulb go on when they got it, especially in kids who were having difficulty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 24 years, she also worked at Oatley\u2019s, her family\u2019s restaurant that once stood on Route 102 in North Kingstown. Deftly maneuvering around the restaurant on her crutches, she waited tables and helped manage the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI loved that job, too, working with my sisters, and we had such wonderful customers. I was very sad when it closed,\u201d she said of the now razed restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After working for two summers on Block Island and jobs at The Narragansett Inn and All Outdoors Power Equipment Inc., she received a call from Robert Drapeau, former director of public safety, to come to 溏心vlog免费B站 for an interview for the information aide position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen he offered me the job, I was so excited because now I was a state worker, with a great job and benefits,\u201d Lafreniere said. \u201cBut it was so much more than that. I felt as though I had come home, back to where I started my education. This is where I belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI work in the best place in the world,\u201d Lafreniere said. \u201cI love it here, the students are the best in the world and I have the best boss and co-worker (Robin Noel) in the world. I am so lucky to have been invited to many of our students\u2019 weddings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Earle, director of undergraduate enrollment, new student transitions and visitor experience and Lafreniere\u2019s supervisor, reciprocated Lafreniere\u2019s feeling of being lucky. \u201cVerna is a 溏心vlog免费B站 living legend. Her remarkable memory and kind spirit provide visitors with an extremely warm welcome. I am always amazed at how she welcomes returning visitors, remembering details of their interaction even if it was years before. I feel so lucky to have such a dedicated and caring colleague who truly embodies our goal of welcoming all to 溏心vlog免费B站.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lafreniere lives what most would call an adventurous life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s been to Portugal, Nashville three times, Alaska and the Caribbean. She will travel in May to Punta Cana to celebrate her niece\u2019s 40th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But still it seems that 溏心vlog免费B站 and work give her the most joy. One parent said the first thing he saw when he entered the center was Lafreniere\u2019s smile, telling Lafreniere later that he \u201cwas so glad when his daughter decided to enroll at 溏心vlog免费B站.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halen Reed, a junior tour guide from Cranston, shared desk duty one recent day with Lafreniere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVerna is so amazing, and so spunky, so on fire,\u201d said the secondary education-English double major. \u201cShe\u2019ll tell you stories and give you a whole new perspective on life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through it all, Lafreniere said she is blessed to have such loving family members, friends, colleagues and students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI ask our students for advice, and they ask me for advice. We help each other with stress. A lot of what I love about this job has to do with our students.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Feb. 8, 2023 \u2013 If Verna Lafreniere were to write a book, the Exeter resident would title it \u201cHurdles and Rainbows.\u201d But those who see Lafreniere in action as an information aide at the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Robert J. Higgins Welcome Center might think her life has been mostly filled with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":83348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83347"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83358,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83347\/revisions\/83358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}