Here's my story:
After I graduated high school, I wanted to pursue Journalism or Broadcasting Communications because I wanted to be out there in the world making a difference. But my parents wanted me in the medical field.. Nursing. Since, I was a girl who obeyed her parents and since they paid for my tuition, I decided to pursue it. While doing my pre-requisites, I transferred colleges (Chaffey College to BYU Provo and BYU-Idaho) because I was bored and I wanted to see what else was out there. While attending BYU-Idaho, I met and fell in love with a boy named Curtis.. Less than a year later, we lived happily ever after.. well sorta! LOL! (Keep reading!)
The Transition
When I moved to Salt Lake City, I was still pursuing a Nursing degree and working full-time. However, I was not happy at all with what I was doing. Because of this, I decided to see if being a nurse was really what I wanted. I took a CNA course and it totally opened my eyes. At first, I ignored my thoughts and figured I didn't want to be selfish and I even got accepted into a Nursing program but it didn't feel right. I wasn't happy. I told Curt I wanted to drop out. After it was done, it took a lot of thinking and I sat down with Curt while crying my eyes out and told him that "I'm not meant to be a nurse!" It didn't make me happy. So he asked me questions like: "What makes you happy? What are you interested in? What is it that you really want to do?" These questions haunted me for awhile and it hit me one day. I've always been interested with teeth and every time I meet people, the first thing I look at is their teeth. Weird, right?! Hahaha! Because of this, Curt told me that I should do what my gut is telling me. I decided to go into Dentistry. Like Nursing, I took a dental assistant course and got my first job while doing my internship hours. And guess what?! I loved every minute of it! Every morning, I was excited to go to work and Curt noticed that I was even happier. After working as a dental assistant for almost 2 years and being surrounded by a great boss and awesome co-workers, I decided to pursue Dental Hygiene. I was scared at first to go for it just because I didn't want my past to happen again where I would regret my decisions, but this time it was different. I was super excited to start school and couldn't wait to start.
Dental Hygiene School
My first day of school was pretty scary. I didn't really know what to expect and what type of people I would meet. I'm a shy person at first but once you get to know me, I'm pretty chill and laid-back. Anyway, my good friend who is also our hygienist at our office, gave me tips and advices on how to survive hygiene school. Who knew that dental hygiene school would be so hard?!!! I couldn't believe the stress and fatigue that I've endured and will continue to endure for the next 6 months. Maybe it's different for each school since I am attending an accelerated 20-month Bachelor's program and that everything is just jammed and packed every semester. Poor Curt has seen me at my worst with never-ending stress and nervous breakdowns every so often. I'm just grateful for his support and all the friends I've made in hygiene school. Without them, I probably would've dropped out and quit. And yes, it's that hard!!!! I'm just glad it's almost over! :)
Making a Difference
Being in school got me so excited to learn all the new things that I never got to learn in assisting school. I wanted to expand my knowledge in dentistry and always shared what I learned with friends and family. One thing that got me really interested was how little people knew about oral hygiene and the impact it has on our overall health. When people go to the dentist, it's usually because they have a toothache or a cleaning. People would usually ask what dental hygienists are and what they do or say that it's the same thing as being a dental assistant (a lot of my classmates get frustrated with this). Even when I'm at work, my boss would tell our patients that I'm in hygiene school and they would ask if I was learning to become a dental tech (haha!). I would always have to explain to them what it is that I do at work and what I'm trying to become. My goal with this blog is to clear that confusion and make the existence of dental hygiene known out there into the big wide world.Help me make a difference and let's all be advocates in spreading the word!
Much Love,
Roxanne
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