“Well, you’re all done.” As I Flicked my tongue across my teeth, an odd satisfying feeling came over me. No more metal, that disgusting, horrifying taste of metal was finally gone. My orthodontist handed me the mirror. I hesitated initially, but as I looked at my reflection, everything around me seemed to light up, not because of my obviously eye-blinding teeth, but because of the confidence that started to ooze out of me. My orthodontist took great pride in his work as I initially displayed my new smile. I was ecstatic because I had crooked teeth and overlapping canines since childhood and was always hesitant to smile even when I wanted to. I will be forever grateful to my orthodontist for giving me a new smile and a new perspective on what will …show more content…
As a first generation college student in my family, I was at a disadvantage. Furthermore, I was working a full time job as a manager, while juggling a full course load. This lead me to struggle academically for the first two years of college. My bad grades were due to my lack of time management skill. I realized that dental school can be difficult and perseverance is required to succeed, thus I had to make a change and demonstrate my ability to overcome the challenges I will be facing in dental school. Following my second year of college I started focusing more on my academics and learning how to manage my time. My grades started improving and in my last year of undergraduate studies I manage to maintain a 4.0 GPA for both semesters, while taking a 21-hour course load, working half-time as a manager, and studying for the DAT. Although it took me two years to reach my potential, I am confident in my ability to overcome the rigorous curriculum that is to come in dental school and have demonstrated that I will be able to maintain a level of academic strength despite a heavy course