My name is Allegra Fiore and I am a graduating senior from New York City College of Technology’s Dental Hygiene Program.

I always say Dental Hygiene found me – I didn’t find Dental Hygiene. I began my college career fresh out of high school in 2008 at CUNY Brooklyn College. Having to declare a major and enjoying working with children I chose Early Childhood Education, with a concentration in American History.

At this point you’re probably wondering how I made the jump from teaching to hygiene. In 2010 I went to my family dentist for my six-month cleaning and I never left. He hired me as a front desk assistant and through a series of events I ended up receiving a life changing on-the-job training as a dental assistant. I was apprehensive at first, but soon discovered that I LOVED going to work; I enjoyed working with patients and looked forward to learning something new every day.  After a year of laboring over the decision to end the commitment I made to a career in education, I finally decided to leave all of that behind and applied to City Tech in May of 2011.

The decision to deviate from a path in which I had invested three years of my time was by no means an easy task, but it was the best decision I have ever made. I am looking forward to a wonderful, lifelong career of dental hygiene!