What led me to this field, and how did I know it was right for me?

My first shadowing experience was with a periodontist. I observed procedures like scaling and root planing and periodontal maintenance, and saw firsthand what advanced gum disease looks like when it goes untreated for years. Something clicked for me that day. I've always understood what a smile means to someone. It's one of the first things people notice, and my smile has always been a source of pride and confidence for me. Dentistry brought together the same science and precision I'd been missing in my previous career, but with something my old work never gave me: an immediate, visible impact on someone's life. Seeing what it could restore in a patient made it clear. This was the field where I could give that to others, and it was more compelling than anything else in healthcare I'd looked into up to that point. The following week, I joined UCF's Pre-Dental Student Association, and shadowing across other specialties, general practice, oral surgery, pediatrics, and endodontics only reinforced it. Each setting looked different, but the same thing was always true: someone walked in needing help, and walked out having gotten it.

I've also been volunteering with nonprofit dental organizations in Orlando, where people come in carrying real pain, waiting on extractions they can't afford anywhere else. And what an experience it's been. The gratitude you see is immediate, even before the anesthetic wears off. You see it in how they look at you, how they say thank you, how they walk out knowing someone finally helped.