The ad read "Dental assistant needed. No experience necessary". After one year of thoroughly enjoying a new career, I decided I wanted to pursue dental hygiene school, where my desire to study medicine began. While excelling in my classes, I often considered switching my field of study to medicine because as much as I learned in each class, I wanted to know even more. However, at that time, my lack of confidence and guidance prevented me from changing direction. Having grown up in a small northern town with a population of less than 250, folks from my “neck of the woods” have not had the opportunity to become doctors. My mother was a homemaker, farmer, gardener, and seamstress; my father worked in the woods to support a family of eight. We may have been poor, but we really didn 't know it. We gardened in the summer and gathered wild nuts and berries, preserving them for the winter months. Growing up on a small farm taught me about responsibilities, hard work and determination. While pursuing my associate …show more content…
In seventeen years, I have worked in both private and public health settings. My career has exposed me to many aspects of healthcare. I have developed many technical and clinical skills over the years, learned the importance of being thorough yet gentle, and engaged in problem solving of dental-medical issues and patient care. I have worked independently, obtaining a public health license and at other times as a part of a team, providing comprehensive care to patients. My work outside of the traditional office has been the most rewarding and fulfilling: working with disabled, migrant health programs, volunteering through dental outreach programs and as an ambassador with People to People International. The truth is, that in helping those less fortunate, I have learned a lot about