Loyalist College Nursing Graduates Gather for 25-Year Reunion
By: Marilyn Warren, Communications, Loyalist College
When Registered Nurse Betsy Vance realized it was coming up to 25 years since her class graduated from the Loyalist College Nursing diploma program, she decided it was time to reunite the Class of ’85. She was able to locate 46 of the 52 graduates, from as near as Belleville and as far away as Colorado. Close to 40 attended the reunion last weekend – eager to reminisce, share some laughs and hear the adventures of the past quarter century.
“Our class was very close and at the time of our graduation we all wanted to get together every five years,” said Betsy. “We held a five and ten-year reunion – but then life happened and we haven’t been together since. Planning this reunion has been so much fun — it didn’t really seem like work at all because I had so many great conversations with so many people. I think our class was especially close. Perhaps it was because our program was so intense. It really seems hard to believe that it was 25 years ago. Everyone looks wonderful. Now that we are together it feels as if we were never apart.”
The weekend included a Saturday evening social with former professor Nancy Pordham and fellow graduate Trudy Bellam as guest speakers. Laura Naumann, Manager of Loyalist Career and Alumni Services welcomed the Class of ’85 on behalf of the college. The next day there were tours of the new Charlotte Sills Wing at Belleville General Hospital and the Simulation Lab at Loyalist.
Trudy Bellam has been working in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital in Denver Colorado for the past ten years and said that it felt very nostalgic to be with her former classmates. She shared with the group her volunteer experiences with Operation Smile – a mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate – who are often unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile. Operation Smile went to Haiti for the first time in 2008 and Trudy was part of the team. “After my initial visit I felt such a pull to Haiti. Following the earthquake in January our group was asked to return. I grew up in Montreal so, in addition to my nursing role, I was able to act as a translator. Words cannot describe how it felt to be able to help when needed so desperately.”
Loyalist College proudly continues to deliver educational excellence in Health Sciences through a comprehensive range of programs – including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing collaborative program with Brock University, Practical Nursing, Personal Support Worker and Pre-Health Science. The college has become an international leader in the integration of human simulation technology, offering students intensive, hands-on practical experience in the state-of-the-art Human Simulation Lab.
As Betsy said, “planning the reunion was more fun than work.” The Loyalist Alumni Association can help you get in touch with former classmates. Visit loyalistcollege.com to start your reunion plans.
Some members of the Nursing Class of ’85 at the reunion reception in November.