When I first started as an optometry student at the University of Waterloo I didn’t realize that I was also becoming a part of a family that would stay together through school, careers and life.
This is thanks to my classmates, those 58 individuals who I spent day and night with, studying, practicing on one another and blowing off steam with fun adventures! For four years, we did everything together, inspired each other, learned from one another and supported everyone to ensure that we were the best that we could be. After all, the optometry program was tough and we knew we were lucky to be in it.
As graduates from the School of Optometry & Vision Science and now optometrists, we became part of a small profession made up of individuals who are dedicated to the well -being of their patients that stand together again to enhance and expand vision care. Since over half of Canada's optometrists graduated from Waterloo, there is a strong bond that ties our optometry community together. I believe this makes us a stronger profession.
Optometrists across the country were fortunate to have been taught by the founders of the School at Waterloo; Drs. Bobier, Fisher, Long, Lyle and Woodruff. We were motivated and inspired by our teachers, supervisors, colleagues and classmates. We were taught in the same building and experienced many of the same traditions such as Skit Night.
In my mind, the School is home base. It’s where it all began for many of us. Waterloo gave me a career that I find rewarding and is responsible for the future of my profession. I am grateful to the School for my education and for the profession that I am part of, therefore I will always stay connected.
Such appreciation is also what has inspired the Class of 1984 to get together and support the School’s current fundraising efforts to rebuild the public clinic in order to transform the clinical program. The clinic is where we all became optometrists and therefore it is important that we invest in the next generation of optometrists. Supporting UWaterloo is just one small way to say thanks.