A long journey came to end, finally done with DDS, WREBs all my friends done. Am gonna miss all of them. Didnt wanted to miss my last message to all of them, its all here:
The Good, the Awesome and the Phenomenal
We do not remember days; we remember moments. ~Cesare Pavese
Respected faculty, family, friends, fellow graduates and all the people present here: a very good morning.
Usually the ladies of my class have the last word, but today I have the honor and pleasure, to address you all on behalf of my class.
I would first of all like to thank all the parents, spouses, families, and friends whose tremendous encouragement and effort made it possible for us all to come to this day. I would like to thank all of our faculty members, instructors, mentors who bared with us from the class I amalgam to the MODBL+++, until we became an expert at both or the tooth got extracted. My sincere thanks to all those assistants, and staff members who kept track of all our CEs, patient appointments and who always smiled when we tried to bring in six patients in a day.
Two years ago I thought this day would never come, and there were times I was certain about it. I take my memory to the very first day when we all met each other, the very first time at the program interview, wondering who will make it into the class or not, who will be my future classmates. I still remember Dr. Kirkland mentioning the written exam is a piece of cake, which it was, although, I guess he forget to mention that it was sugar free and frozen.
Somehow I made it in….
Being an IDP student is a blessing, though far away from home, I found a new family, people I knew nothing about, yet it never felt like being a stranger, of going through the entire dental program all over again
How can I forget the pre-clinical lab which was our home for three months. Those awfully long lab sessions working on typodonts wondering when will I ever get to wet my hands in patients saliva. The 4th floor lab was where I came to know all of you, learning from your experience and I hope, you guys also learned from my mistakes. Those early morning lectures where we were wondering what happened we just came after sleeping 8 hours, those sessions where it was nearly impossible to get that perfect ideal class II or the temporaries for Dr. Mendoza and those nights polishing temp crowns wondering when will I get to see my bed again. How can I forget all those exams which were probably meant to scare me more rather than to test my knowledge, those awfully long Friday classes where I would sit and contemplate a career change. But we survived it and made it through.
As the gladiator enters the ring so we were into the clinics all excited and ready to go, Life comes at you hard and fast and so does clinics. Soon we realized its just not dental treatment it’s more than that. It reminds me of Russell Peters who once said “You know when you are in a situation, and you know it is your situation, but somehow you hope that it’s not your situation”. Like looking up in my axium to realize you don’t have the chair with a faculty with whom you started the COE with; or maybe, not with the faculty who you started the crown prep with and now the patient is ready for an impression. Regardless it was a great experience working with awesome faculty and our D4 buddies, who were always there to show us the way around. I thank you all for all the support, help, and fun times we shared together to make this a good lifetime experience.
Why UCSF? I think it is the best thing that happened to us. The only dental school I guess where the Dean would come and teach you about dental caries and the associate dean about oral cancer and ways to prevent it. It was here one of my professors said; a good functional prosthesis needs to have good support, stability and retention for the best outcome and that goes for student life too.
Retention, i.e. prevention of dislodgment in the vertical direction was the, faculty, who gave us all the expertise, knowledge and ethics of this profession. I came in as nobody, some came in as good, some as awesome, but I congratulate you today, because now as you leave these gates, you all are phenomenal, well processed and finished, marked and filled with confidence, knowledge, sincerity and work ethics by all the hard work you have put all these years in the dental school to be successful. I would here quote Ralph Waldo Emerson who said about: Success: To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded! And this is what I wish and pray for all of you here.
Stability is the prevention of displacement in the horizontal direction. As I said, There were times I was certain I’m never getting out of this school, the journey seemed awfully long, never ending, All the friends and people around who taught me what perfection, determination, hard work, diligence and compassion is all about by being an example of it themselves. The excellent mentors and knowledge provided which revoked my idea of career change and gave meaning and purpose to life.
Support is friends and family preventing us from being crushed under the pressures of all the responsibilities and expectations. Its not just putting in your and my attendance in didactic class or all those late night social events where we could get along to pacific catch or Lavaash, to forget all the hardships and get ready for another day. Its coming to understand the importance and true meaning of “tu doste e mani , vah to khare”
Life is all about moving on, from one stage to another, from one place to other, from a good idea to something better. One thing, however, remains a certainty, we might be leaving UCSF but UCSF will forever lives in our hearts!
In the end I would just like to mention: Don’t cry because it is over; smile because it happened. It happened to me....and I am thankful to God for it did strengthen my confidence. I have no fear now for what the future holds...I just think or rather believe its good!
For all the joy, the delight, for all the good times we have shared together, for all the difficulties we have faced through this journey, till we meet again, some time , some place, just hold on to your dreams, just believe that you can., Nothing can hold you back, that’s the story of a man !
Stay awesome as always my friends!
All the best!
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