The event was the annual Dean’s Cultural Evening, held in the Aula at the Hatfield Campus, as the Onderstepoort Campus does not have a hall big enough to accommodate the audience, made up of students, staff, friends and parents. From the very first act, a vocal duet, it was clear that the audience was in for a treat. The audience was more than appreciative and the performers all stepped up to the task, breaking down cultural barriers with items ranging from instrumental music, vocals, the first performance of the OP Community Choir, rap, jazz, belly dancing, Bollywood dancing, acting and mime. What a privilege to be part of this profession, with youngsters who will indeed carry the torch into the future.

There were many highlights – perhaps each act was a highlight and it would be unfair to mention some above the others. It made one proud of the Faculty, with so many young talented students who will represent the profession in the near future.

One of the final years, Nick Temlett, a very gifted young man, actor, artist, and musician performed his own version of Gloria Gaynor’s “I will Survive”, as a tribute to all the final years:

 

 We Survived - a tribute to OP final years 2016

to the tune of Gloria Gaynor's "I will survive", words by Nick Temlett

 

At first it was dissections in Anatomy

And headaches from the microscopes in Histology

We learned grasses, we learned veld

We learned about behaviour too

In physiology we learned what all the body's enzymes do.

 

We now know prazeqwork l's good for nematodes

And even works on flukes but not on cestodes

At one point we knew all the drugs

From anaesthetics to NSAIDs

But at some point over all the years

All those names fell out our brains

 

Cos now we're here

In final year!

With only a few months to go

and then we're outta here

There's still so much that we must learn

and so much we don't know

There's so much more we can improve

and so much more to grow

 

But we survived! Yes we survived

Through all the stress we've always kept

our will to stay alive

We must face the big bad world now and sadly leave OP

But we'll survive, 'cause we've survived

 

Our path orals were always frightening

But now that we look back they went like lightning

Which is always a DD for one of prof Prozesky's slides

Think horses and not zebras when a diagnosis hides

 

They crammed so much into our fourth (slash) fifth year

That the thought of failing was in fact a true fear

But somehow we held on and somehow made it through

We survived. Yes we survived!

 

And now we're here.

In final year!

With only a few months to go

 and then we're outta here

There's still so much that we must learn

and so much we don't know

There's so much more we can improve

and so much more to grow

 

But we survived! Yes we survived

Through all the stress we've always kept

our will to stay alive

We must face the big bad world now and sadly leave OP

But we'll survive, 'cause we've survived

 

Looking back we have so many memories

And our friends aren't only friends,

they are our family

And it's hard to say goodbye

to a place you've held so dear

But we'll survive...yes we'll survive

 

Yes we survived......