Academic Enrichment:

You can go through life fast by minding your own business. To go further, however, you bring people with you on the journey. I was fortunate in my freshmen year to have an endearing friend that got accepted into The Ohio State University’s College of Dentistry at January 2017. This friend and I have known each other for almost a decade. We both want to become dentists, are in the same major, and have an almost obsessive desire for street fashion. I decided to interview this friend. My friend, Aaron Haah, will finish his undergraduate year at the Ohio State University in Spring 2017. I had asked my friend why did he decided to still pursue dental school even though he is currently twenty eight years old. My friend does not see age a valuable number in college. It is the amount of work you put in. I even questioned about the times Aaron got a “C,” “D,” or even failed an exam. His response was inspiring. “You can’t be sad when the beans are already spilled. You have to pick yourself up again and keep going.” I realized that this resiliency is what pushed him to complete his pre-requisites. Aaron is currently a dental technician and puts a large amount of hours into his work. When I asked about time management, he responded that if you truly care about it then you will make time for it. In the conclusion of this interview, I have gained a new founded sense of respect for my childhood friend. Anyone can make it to dental school. It depends if you are willing to try and learn once more.
Service Engagement:

By the end of August 2016, my first semester of freshmen year, I was the President of my church’s Youth Group. At January 2017, I became the Earliteen Coordinator of this same church and begun the “Mini-OKAY” program. This program seek to improve the mental and spiritual wellbeing of 8 year olds to 14 year olds in our church. The amount of hours volunteering, running to Target with my Teaching Assistants, singing “Frozen” by Disney in the car went by too fast. My most memorable moment with such kids was making our “Mini-OKAY T-Shirts.” We all assigned each other nicknames and spent two weeks crafting these shirts. Despite the amount of spray paint in my hair from a “spray paint war,” I was laughing hysterically and was proud of our work.

This was only one moment. These kids have taught me so much about self-less love. Every single week, I volunteered over 6 hours for these kids. Every hours was worth it because as much as they loved me I loved them back. From this experience, I felt like it wasn’t the children who were blessed with the program, it was me. Every single week I see these kids,  I leave with a fuller heart. I have learned to be passionate and advocate for a group of people that I deeply resonated with. I only hope to learn and give more in my upcoming years.

Academic Enrichment (Update):

After a year of growing, I decided to re-interview my friend Aaron Haah, who is now a D2 at dental school. After catching up, here is the synopsis of our interview.

• What would be the one advice you would tell yourself before dental school?
  • “…Dental school is actually really hard. I underestimated how hard it would be. First semester, wasn’t bad. Second semester, hit me hard. If you don’t study, you actually don’t get a good grade. *insert laugh* The coursework gradually gets harder and harder. But, it’s not impossible to have a life outside of dental school. It [dental school] doesn’t just have to be studying. You can make it fun and hang out with your friends. You can go to parties. etc. You do have a life –  it’s just limited. You just have to keep up with the work.”
• Did you ever think that you would make it to dental school?
  • “I did. Not because of the courses, and I never thought I was smart. It would because of my experience. I thought the dental school would look into my experience. I actually worked with the dentists and worked in the dental field for a long time. I had a inkling I could get in.”
• What do you do to motivate yourself?
  • “It’s hard for me because it’s easy for me to lose motivation. You don’t see the end. All you see is “another semester.” The one think that motivates me is when I shadow dentists. I shadowed a periodontists and saw how you can make lives better. Not knowing enough stuff motivates me learn as much as I can. I want to be a dentists that actually helps people. I would never want to think that it’s “another thing in my chair.” It’s a person who is trusting me to make their life better.
• If you could reproach the DAT, what would you do?
  • “I took 8 weeks off to study for the DAT. In reality I didn’t really study that much. If I had to do it all over again. Have a more structured schedule and more consistent so that I would feel more prepared than I did. I think 8 weeks is plenty perhaps 6 weeks is good enough. I would plan it better and execute it more effectively.”
• What was the hardest part of your journey to dental school? And how did you overcome it?
  • “My family needed financial support so I work as a dental technician. In 2012, I figured out that I wanted to be a dentist. I couldn’t jump right in to college because I had a family to support. It was hard that I couldn’t pursue my dreams because of my family’s financial circumstance. I just told myself that if it’s meant to be it will happen. I finally started school at 2014. I just studied for two years [in college] and got in. The 2 years [from 2012-2014] was really difficult. I didn’t want to be a dental technician forever. I just waited and I had to support your family. I constantly telling myself that it was going to be okay. I couldn’t just abandon my family. If it’s out of your control and just accept it and work with what you have. Once I got into dental school and quit my  job, and I realized how comfortable I was. The boss [from my dental technician job] trusted me so much. And having the job that I was  comfortable with, it was tough leaving them behind. But I knew I had to do what I have to do.”
• If you could advise yourself about the interview process, what would you say?
  • “The Ohio State University : College of Dentistry is very friendly. Not intimidating, but you’re still nervous. Try to come up with questions they will ask. Do not be fake. Absolutely do not be fake. Be very personable. Don’t memorize stuff. And just have bullet points. If you memorized they know you memorized.  You can go to ADEA or Dental student network and search for practice interview questions. You can choose a few of them and answer them in your own way. And that should prep you enough. The day of the interview, remember that you’ve prepared and you got the interview because you deserve it. They just want to know who you are and who you are as a person. You deserve to be there. Don’t be nervous.”
• The phone call [That Aaron got into OSU’s College of Dentistry]
  • “I was in the bathroom, I had a voicemail. When I got a call, I was in the bathroom. I had to call them back. And seeing the voicemail and hearing it, I knew I got in. I was over the moon. I was so beyond happy. It was definitely meant to be. I was so thrilled. I wanted to scream but I was in the library. When I got home, I looked at my mom and and she looked at me back. We screamed at the same time.”