Prior to my coursework as a student, I had no professional dental experience. I completed a BA degree in psychology at Hunter college in 2012. After that, I worked in jewelry as an account manager and later also a merchandising assistant. My organization skills and attention to detail enabled me to thrive in this field. However, I always felt that my ideal career would be in the medical field and later began working at an outpatient psychiatric clinic. I came to realize that I was looking for a more hands on experience, and after some research in prospective career options, I found that dental hygiene checked off all the boxes. I decided to return to school, and in Fall 2017, registered at New York City College of Technology as a pre-dental hygiene student. I took all the prerequisite courses and was then accepted to the dental hygiene program and began my major coursework Fall 2018.
Over the course of four semesters in the dental hygiene program (six, counting Winter 2018 histology and Summer 2019 pharmacology), I have had many insightful and memorable experiences. From the very beginning, I felt the intensity of the program curriculum. Like many of my evening section classmates, I was working while completing the major courses. We went from learning the fundamentals of instrumentation with our clinic partners, two evenings a week, to seeing patients as clinicians three days a week, including Saturday mornings. It feels rewarding to have accomplished everything that we have during this period.
