These past two years in the dental hygiene program have made me realize I chose the

right career path, and I could not be happier with my decision. I have always been interested in

working in the health field, but I never knew exactly what part I wanted to go into. I knew I didn’t

want to go into nursing, but something along those lines, so I decided to try dental hygiene. I

took my prerequisites and the exam to get on the waitlist for the dental hygiene program and I

had to wait for two years. While I was waiting, I decided to go through the dental assisting

program to make sure this was really what I wanted to do. After I graduated from the assisting

program, I started working in an orthodontic office and I loved it because it was a lot of

independent work for the assistants, so I had a feeling I was also going to love being a dental

hygienist since that is independent work as well.

I have always said that the sport of gymnastics has helped shape me into who I am

today and going through dental hygiene school has proven that. Dental hygiene school isn’t all

sunshine and rainbows, you’re going to have the hard days that make you feel like you want to

give up. That’s how it was with gymnastics too, but that sport taught me how to take

constructive criticism and how to handle many difficult obstacles and I feel that I used those

skills in school to help me get through the program. 

Going through the dental hygiene program was a roller coaster of emotions, but I

couldn’t be more grateful for this experience. Classroom lectures and exams were where I

struggled most, I have never been a good test taker, but the information that was given to us

and the time our instructors took to teach us, helped me so much in that aspect of things. The

clinical part was a little different and that is where I think gymnastics came in to help me. The

skill that is needed for a dental hygienist to instrument was one of the hardest things to learn in

hygiene school. Practicing over and over and feeling like you still can’t get it right. But our

instructors were always there for us, they let us ask as many questions as we wanted, and they

checked in with us every semester to make sure we were still feeling good with our

instrumentation skills and that helped me mentally and physically to feel more confident.
 This program has given me so many new memories and friendships that will now last a

lifetime. I couldn’t have asked for better instructors, they were always there for us no matter if it

was a good day or a bad day, and I will forever be grateful for my relationships with each one of

them. As I am sad for this journey to end, I am so excited for the new opportunities to come and

to continue expanding my knowledge as a dental hygienist.