My name is Helena Huang and I am graduating from the dental hygiene program. Growing up as an Asian American with first-generation immigrant parents, I was taught Chinese in two different dialects. At home, I spoke Cantonese with my family. On the other hand, I learned Mandarin from Chinese school and being exposed to Mandarin in my community. To further expand my knowledge in Chinese, I took elementary and intermediate Chinese classes at Hunter College. I studied at Hunter with the plan of going into nursing but after learning about dental hygiene, I found it was my calling. Before going into the program, I had no prior dental experience so I started working as a dental assistant at a few dental offices to gain insight and experience outside of school.
I am glad that I made the decision to work at a few dental offices because I learned a lot of other ways to manage different patients that the program didn’t teach. In addition, working as a dental assistant, I was exposed to many more patients who are all different in clinical and radiographic presentation.
The dental hygiene program at City Tech gave me the knowledge and tools that are needed to advance myself as a potential hygienist. I had many opportunities to do dental or hygiene related research projects and community service which enhanced my learning experience with hands-on activities.
This dental hygiene program is one of the best in the city and I’ve met and had the pleasure of working with some alumni from this program. The faculty and my fellow classmates all made my learning experience enriching and motivating.
