My name is Sheela Alburquerque. I am the oldest of 4 and was born in Anaheim, California. I grew up there until I was about 9 years old when my parents decided to move to the east coast. My parents are both from Lima, Peru and I am fortunate to have a big family. I am now married for about 13 years and have two beautiful daughters, Andrea (13) & Ava (8).
After graduating from high school I began working as a dental assistant for the first time. I was always interested in the medical field but not sure what path to take. After working at the dental office I began to love the field more and more. I had a great boss and he would tell me to give the dental hygiene career a chance. He convinced me to take a look into the career and the more I spoke with the Dental Hygienist in the office the more I was convinced I wanted to give a try. I applied to NYU School for Dentistry and got into the program but unfortunately I was only able to go for 1 year. The tuition was expensive and around that same time I was in the stages of planning my wedding. I said I would take a break and go back to school later down the road. About 10 years later after both my daughters were old enough I decided to go back to school! I was nervous, scared and excited all at once. I would think to myself am I too old to start all over again and at the same time while trying to be a mom and wife but I did it somehow with the help of my husband and our family. This has been a great challenge to achieve and proud to have had my daughters watching my journey. If there is one thing that I hope they took from my journey is that they should never give up no matter how hard life can get anything is possible if you work hard. All the sacrifice, sweat and tears were all worth it. I am excited to see where this career will take me and to new beginnings!
Remember why you began
