D.D.S. Class of 1984 Scholarship

The Class of 1984 was a unique class. From the first day of class in August 1980 when we watched the clip of Tim Conway and Harvey Korman until our final graduation at River Road Baptist Church, we all knew this class was distinct. Camaraderie and friendship were the glue throughout our four years.

In the summer of 1980, there were 113 of us that started a brave new adventure together. That summer was so hot in Richmond, Va. Many of us lived in the dorms near the campus, and there was no air conditioning. We started to develop friendships and bonding through mutual sufferings with the intense heat and with the rigors of Gross Anatomy. Someone organized a party that first week, and that cemented our desire to study hard and play even harder. We all got thoroughly initiated in the baptism of dental school when Gross Anatomy ended, and the full brunt of dental school hit: over 35-40 credit hours taken each semester. How did we cope with this? By going out and enjoying each other’s company, playing many intramural sports together, having retreats at Hal Snyder’s parent’s lake home in Varina and hanging out with each other in dorm rooms, apartments and homes.

As our dental school years wound down and the real world grew closer, there was a deep sense of sadness among the 105 of us that survived, that this special time was ending. A large part of our class went into the military because jobs were scarce; others specialized, and still others braved private practice immediately. There were many weddings and celebrations that first summer. Life was calling, and our new profession was now a reality.

As we look back and reminisce, for a lot of us in the class of 1984, we could not have made it without each other, without helping each other in labs, in school work and in the clinic. Surviving through shared suffering and hard work was only made possible through the fellowship and bonding of our class with each other.