YBC Y2K 2020 REUNION

The story begins in the summer of nineteen ninety three. A collection of mixed matched highly intelligent young minds have come together from all over the vast divide that is Nigeria, to converge at the University of Lagos. It suffices to say that these kids are some of the brightest minds in the country and have chosen to invest their time and energy over the next six or so years to becoming some of the finest medical minds the country has ever produced.   

If you were there you would get the sense of something special about to happen. A feeling of growing anticipation, looking back it was almost like knowing you are on the cusp of greatness. I was there and witnessed these moments first hand. Looking back I remember feeling intimidated by how smart many of my colleagues were. I felt incredibly special to be part of such a distinguished group but at the same time I was interested in seeing where I stacked up in the grand scheme of intellectual competition that would eventually be our medical school experience.

So enough preambles, we as a class went on to successfully complete medical school and in the process forge lifelong bonds and friendships that have so far stood the test of time. We ended up graduating in the year two thousand and have adopted the cool moniker “YBCY2K” (short for Year Book Class of the Year Two Thousand) Sooo Busy!!!!!!!!!. Looking back I ask myself, what would the young starry eyed teenager me think of where we are as a class and what we stand for. Back then I had no clue what I or anyone of my class mates would become. One thing I did know was that we stood for excellence and when our story would be told the same theme of excellence would ring true throughout. Since we have begun this reunion process I have come to understand that we also stand as our brother’s keeper, and serve as mentors and intellectual guides to the upcoming generation.  

My young self would be pleasantly surprised to know that members of our class have gone on to successfully separate conjoined twins, others now command multiple NIH grants and are involved in cutting edge genetic research. My classmates are Professors and teachers of high esteem and repute. My class mates write health blogs and are industry leaders and trend setters. Members of my class family are mothers and fathers and one of our YBC babies will soon be starting college.

I can go on and on about the personal and professional accolades of my class family but what I’m most proud of when it comes to my graduating class is our love for humanity and being our brother’s keeper. When we started our reunion journey we launched an initiative to help with the rehabilitation of the baby boy of one of us, who suffered a devastating cardiac arrest resulting in anoxic encephalopathy. The initiative is called “50forTami”. Today Tami is swimming the back stroke in hydrotherapy and making daily progress towards a full recovery.  More recently we started a Scholarship fund that is sponsoring six young bright indigent medical students through our Alma Mata. Their individual testimonials will be shared on a separate page on this website. As a further give back project we raised money as a class and purchased a dental suite for dental school. This played no small part in the regaining of full accreditation by the esteemed dental school.

Unfortunately it’s not been all fun and games since we graduated. We lost one of our most influential and beloved members recently to a massive heart attack. Leslie Garbar was a successful medical practitioner based in the Trinidad and Tobago and a truly wonderful soul. Still can’t believe he is gone.  As a class we rallied around his spouse and kids and have provided critical financial support at times of need, support which is ongoing and will continue. In his honor the scholarship scheme has been renamed the Leslie Grabar YBC Y2K Scholarship fund. His memory lives on in our hearts, gone he may be but never forgotten.      
 
So yes we’ve been soo busy!!!!!!!!!!! Doing a lot of stuff. So what’s next you may ask? Well the formal reunion is planned for December of  2020.  This will be a weeklong of events ranging from a sports meet and greet to a black tie gala and symposium. This will hold in Lagos Nigeria with events centering in and around our Alma Mata.  So will my younger self be impressed with how far we’ve come. I will say yes, but we have so much more to do and to achieve both individually and collectively.
 
So who are we? I would say we are a group of dedicated medical intellectuals looking to continually impact our environment in a positive way. A Motley Crue of strangers who have over the years become family. And like any true family we’ve had our ups and downs but almost twenty years down the line here we still are.   Going forward it’s obvious that individuals amongst us will take up increasingly important roles of leadership and environmental influence. And be rest assured I’ll be here to blog about it. Oh and one of my class mates owns a fricking hotel.  It’s been a blast so far, memories are continually being created. See you in December of 2020.