Wow! I’ve finally reached the last semester of my college career. When they tell you, “the four years goes by in the blink of a eye,” listen, because it’s definitely true. I remember my freshman year as if it was just yesterday. Now, I’m preparing to apply for dental school and to obtain my dental assistant license.

I know 2017 will be my  year! I’ll graduate from Texas A&M and begin a new chapter of my life practicing dental assistant medicine.

As the semester gets going, I begin to realize how close I am to the finish line. I’m taking my final major science course, Physiology, which I know will be the most difficult course yet. However, I’m determined to finish strong.

Over the past couple of semesters, I’ve improved my study strategies which resulted in a significant increase in my GPA.  Although I still did well in my freshman and sophomore courses, those grades weren’t going to make me a competitive dental school applicant. I’ve worked hard to show the admission board that I deserve a spot in that class.

I want to finish this last semester showing them that my determination surpasses any mediocracy in my first two years of college. I hope that my application will be enough to engage the admissions board and encourage them to be interested in meeting me.

I’m excited for the what the future holds. I embrace it wholeheartedly!

Recently, I applied to be a part of the dental shadowing program here at Texas A&M University, and I got in. This definitely increases my motivation and has inspired me to share the reason why I want to pursue a career in dentistry in the first place.

A portion of my life was spent in my home country, Nigeria. At the age of 10, my parents sent my sister—who was 11 at the time—and I to Nigeria to “learn and experience the Nigerian culture.” At the time, I thought this was complete nonsense, and thought “Why place me in a whole different country far away from my family and friends?” But, at the time I didn’t know that would be same thing that influenced my life forever.

There, I was exposed to many of the different hardships my people faced, unsanitary living conditions, inconsistent water supply, and lack of healthcare. With most of the country in complete poverty, healthcare was the hardest thing of acquire. Throughout the four years I spent in Nigeria, I noticed that I’ve never received any kind dental care and this especially surprised me coming from a world where six-month dental checkups were a must. And somehow I wanted that to change.

With my mom as registered nurse and my dad as radiologist technician, I always knew I wanted to someday be a part of the healthcare field, but I never knew in what way I could be of any help.

After seeing one of close cousins graduate from dental school, I thought why not change my surrounding by becoming someone who can actually influence it. There is my drive to become a dentist: to return to Nigeria in hopes of making dental care available to my people who need it.