Becoming an Adult

I'm 18 years old and I still feel like I'm a child. I'm scared to accept the fact that I need to grow up and get out of my comfort zone. Many of my friends say I'm more focused on my future than they are. Yet, I feel like adults still see me as the little girl pretending to be an adult. When will I feel like I'm an adult. When I talked to dentist about volunteering in his office I felt like he saw me as a little girl. First of all, when I'm asked what I'm going to school from they assume I want to be a hygienist or dental assistant and when I tell them I'm actually going to be a dentist I know exactly what they are thinking. Yeah right, she's a girl and she's young. She doesn't really know what she wants and doesn't understand how hard it is to become a dentist. True I am young, but I know what I want. If I don't make it, at least I tried.

Over winter break I'm going to be volunteering at a different dentist office. I'm nervous and excited. This is going to look great to dental schools in the future but I'm nervous because I have no experience. What is a freshman who is just taking prereqs know about dentistry. True, I haven't taken the classes yet, but being exposed to the environment is important. The dentist I am observing understands this and is really great about it.

Before I called and asked for this opportunity I thought to myself, I am only 18 what am I doing trying to act like an adult. I'm not ready to be an adult. But that's just it, I am ready. I just feel like others think I'm not ready because of my age.

Compared to most other freshman at college, I have my life put together. I am trying to get opportunities that I know I will need for the future now. I'm basically just trying to get my foot in the door (the hardest part). Through this volunteering opportunity I could possible get the chance to go to Guatemala and help the less fortunate, especially the children. That will be an experience of a lifetime. How did I get this opportunity? Delta. Yes, Delta my local community college is how I got this opportunity that will set me apart of many other dental student!

Now I just have to get it in my head that I am an adult and that this is normal to be doing things that I feel I shouldn't. All I'm trying to do is achieve my dream and if that means feeling uncomfortable because I feel I'm too young to be doing something then so be it. Before when I interned at an office near my school it was because of a class I was taking in High School. I was still nervous the first day but other high school student I knew had done this. After a week or so of being there I felt like that was where I was supposed to be. I hope I get the same feeling at this new office and they don't look at me as if I'm just that young girl with too big of dream. My doctor once told me “Everyone says 'do you really want to go to school for 10 years? That's so long' 10 years is 10 years, either you can be doing something you love in 10 years or you could be going from job to job trying to find something to settle with. Don't settle.”

Education

            Is a more expensive education really better? My parents sent me to Frankenmuth to get the best education I could and it has given me everything I need this far to get into any college I want. Do I take the same approach to get into dental school or do I take the cheapest route? At my work a dentist always comes in to buy equipment for his side business, his hobby. One day I asked where he went to school. He gave me an answer I didn’t expect. He went to Saginaw Valley State University and got accepted into dental school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Did he get U of M accept him because his dad is also a dentist or do they really not care about where you went to school before.

            He said that when he applied to both U of M and the University of Detroit Mercy, U of M didn’t care that he got completed his pre-dentistry at SVSU. On the other hand, Mercy didn’t accept him because SVSU didn’t have enough pull behinds its name. It all made sense. When I toured Detroit Mercy last summer they only wanted to know who was from Frankenmuth. Mercy just pulls from the schools with a good reputation.

            Now I have to decide if I really want to pay more money for the same degree. If I go to SVSU I know that I only have one school in Michigan to apply to because Mercy likes status. Or do I take the safe more expensive route and go to Mercy and know that I have a chance to get into either U of M or Mercy. If only there was a book that told me the answers to these questions.

            I was talking to a friend about my situation and he asked “how do you even know you like dentistry enough to put this kind of time and money into it?” It was a very good question, but I didn’t have to think twice about the answer. I love dentistry! I interned and I know what really goes on in all different situations and I want to be apart of it. I know things get messy when people sue, but that’s just one downside to a whole lot of happiness. Now, all I need is the answer to what path I’m going to take to achieve this dream.