White Coat Day

It seems like only yesterday that we were watching Kent get his white coat, but actually it was three years ago. Today was Craig's big day--The White Coat Ceremony! This is the day, after two years of learning every bone, muscle, disease, and structure of the human body, as well as working on mannequins and wax teeth, the dental students finally get to work on real people for the next two years before actually graduating! It is symbolized by The White Coat Ceremony! Before the ceremony began, George had to go up next to the stage and pick out Craig's coat from the 82 coats there.

After the talks which were fantastic about the importance of serving the public and having the utmost integrity in all they did, the dental students were each "coated" and then walked across the stage as their name was read. It was really a proud moment!

The procession afterward.

After the ceremony, there was a reception with a light buffet and sparkling grape juice for toasting!

Behind every good man is a good woman! Yeh, Cassie, for all your support!

Cassie, Craig, and the proud parents!

Cassie and Craig with Todd, Abby, and little Tanner. Todd served a Mormon mission with Craig in Catania, Italy, and they came from Dallas to support Craig on this special day.

This graduating class has six Mormon students who have all become best friends through all their experiences at school as well as church, even though none of them knew each other before becoming Gator Dental Students. Their wives have all become friends, too.

L to R - Chris Ingalls, Michael Gooch, Del Greenhalgh, Jason Kim, Craig Copeland, and Bryant Anderson

The six dental students with their wives. (Four are married.)

Later that day, Cassie and some of the other girls, planned a wonderful pool party at a clubhouse for the six dental students, their families, and friends. It was such a great time for getting to know so many fabulous friends, having great food, and enjoying so much fun!

Soon the real "fun" began. Someone suggested they play watermelon football. Wow! Shall I say, "Dental students are competitive?" The only time the pool was calm was when the football was placed in the middle of the pool. I really wish I would have taken a video of all the action!

By the way, do you notice the only wife in the pool in the middle of all the action? That's right--Cassie! "Competitive" is her middle name.

Finally, the fun ended when the watermelon got a split in it. Oh well, I think secretly the guys were hoping that would happen because they were all dead tired!
At the end of the day, George and I came back to Jacksonville with a big smile on our faces with another wonderful memory in the life of parenthood!