” It is not how good you are. It is how good you want to be”
Paul Arden
Welcome to my ePortfolio. My name is Janeth Canola and I would like to introduce myself as a dental hygiene student at New York City College of Technology and dental assistant with 8 years of experience.
My interest in dentistry began in 2012 in Norwalk, Connecticut. I started working in a dental office as a dental assistant, my enthusiasm for learning grew from remembering the names of the instruments to learn how to properly set up for more complicated procedures. In 2014 I moved to Queens, NY in search of better opportunities. Fortunately, I found a dental office where they believed in my learning potential and appreciated my skills. In 2016, I realized that assisting was not enough for me and that’s when I decided to start pursuing my Dental Hygiene Degree at City Tech.
My first two years at City Tech were very challenging and demanding. I was working full-time at a dental office and have had recently a baby. My first thought about going back to school was ” How am I going to do it?’ if I am always busy and my partner is working full-time and pursuing his Civil Engineer Degree. I felt the need of doing something else that could provide me satisfaction and pride; dental hygiene was the best option for me since I enjoy working with the patients and making them aware of the great importance that is to have good oral health. Therefore, I started to take my pre-requisites for dental hygiene, I was part-time in school and had to take extra classes during the winter and summer semesters to speed up the process. However, It took me 2 years to complete them with an outstanding GPA. Many times I thought about quitting, but there was always something in me that kept me pushing to become the professional that I always wanted to be.
The moment I got accepted into the Dental Hygiene program, I was beyond happy. I felt so proud of myself that I could not believe it. It takes a lot of courage, consistency, and dedication to accomplish good things in life and I was that type of person back in Colombia, but not anymore when I came to this country. It was a big change to live in a different country when the language is a barrier and the culture is different from yours. After going through many difficulties for years, I got myself back and I am happy that I never doubted myself and always knew who I was. That’s what brought me here, to this moment. At 30 years old with a healthy daughter and a hard-working husband, I can truly say that all the effort, tears, and hours of study are worth it.
