A funny thing happened on the way to dental school ...

If you look at the menu bar above, you'll notice that the dental hygiene page is gone.  Pretty soon "The Mission" will be changing, and those cute little teeth that look like polka dots will be replaced.

In a way, this is both sudden and yet almost thirty years in the making.  It started on April 10, 1981.  I just got lost for a little while.

"People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do..."

I've always liked that saying because I believe every experience has a lesson, and everything happens for a reason.  The road leading to a diploma in dental hygiene was not one I was meant to follow to its end, but one to get me to the exit for the appropriate road.  The dental hygiene career plan meant that a) I had to go back to university for some prerequisites, and b) that I would be taking science courses.  But the "happy coincidence" that came out of that return to school should be lit up in 12-foot-high neon lettering:  I took Space Studies.

My dental hygiene career path was for a specific reason.  Its season is over.  And now I know what to do.

Stay tuned, Gentle Reader.  This is going to be really exciting! :D

Great news!

Today I heard back from the admission department at the dentistry school, and they said that it looks like I’ll have everything covered, prerequisite-wise, once I take care of the science ones (the stats, the chem, and the full-tear bio I’m going to take through distance ed). In other words, I don’t have to repeat the courses I took back when I did my arts degree. This is fabulous news!

She even offered to look at my transcripts to see if I had “competitive grades”, and, to be honest, this made me both happy and panicked. Even though they only look at the last five full-year courses when calculating your average, that Big Black Hole from the undiagnosed/untreated Seasonal Affective Disorder in 1995-1996 is still there. I’d feel better showing them my marks once these courses I’m taking are complete, but, at the same time, I really should take her up on her offer.

I’ll have to think this one over.

Great news!

Today I heard back from the admission department at the dentistry school, and they said that it looks like I’ll have everything covered, prerequisite-wise, once I take care of the science ones (the stats, the chem, and the full-tear bio I’m going to take through distance ed). In other words, I don’t have to repeat the courses I took back when I did my arts degree. This is fabulous news!

She even offered to look at my transcripts to see if I had “competitive grades”, and, to be honest, this made me both happy and panicked. Even though they only look at the last five full-year courses when calculating your average, that Big Black Hole from the undiagnosed/untreated Seasonal Affective Disorder in 1995-1996 is still there. I’d feel better showing them my marks once these courses I’m taking are complete, but, at the same time, I really should take her up on her offer.

I’ll have to think this one over.

No April Fool

This morning I decided I’d better drop the dentistry school admissions office a line. Dr. Sister suggested that it might be a good idea to make sure that the courses I’ve registered in will fulfill the prerequisite requirements. My gut says yes, but she’s right — it’s better to make sure before I fork over $2000 to the local campus!

A week or so ago, I was at a hockey game and there was a booth there for the local university. I chatted with the student there and mentioned that I was going to take a course or two. At one point in our conversation, she mentioned that a friend of hers was taking dental hygiene and already had a job lined up — and she hadn’t even graduated yet.

Dr. Sister assures me that it’s a field that’s constantly in demand, and that makes me happy. It wasn’t until I started pursuing this path that I realized just how badly I wanted to have a career with an income that I could count on. It creeps into my mind more and more. But at least in about three years, I’ll have that.

Wish I had a picture...

… ... of people’s expressions when I tell them I’m going back to school: dental school.

Everyone and their dog has been expecting me to search further and further afield to find a teacher education program that would place more emphasis on experience and ability, and less on a transcript from more than ten years ago. So the looks on their faces when what I’ve just said sinks in are really quite funny. One friend, a math teacher, actually blinked and gave her head a shake.

Some people’s responses have been pretty vocal, too. One lady sighed. “Oh, well — I guess it’s the school system’s loss. They should have let you in. You’re an excellent teacher. Too bad for them.”

It’s nice to know that, even now that I’m no longer pursuing that path, the staff feels I’m good at what I do and would have been an asset.

But, at the same time, when I’ve had a class that has been a tad chaotic, it’s such a relief to simply grin and say, “That’s okay. I’m going to go scrape teeth.”

Brainstorming

So, my sister the dentist (hereafter known as “Dr. Sister”) and I have been doing a fair bit of talking about my future plans, and we’re both really excited. Hubby seems to be okay with this whole thing, and I’m now looking at the nuts and bolts with regards to bringing it about.

There are course prerequisites to being admitted to the dental hygiene program. Before I apply to the dentistry school, I need to have the following under my belt:

• a full-year writing course. (I’m hoping that my BA in English will check that off.)


• a full-year sociology course. (I took one for my BA in the early 1990s.)


• a full-year psychology course. (I took two half-courses in the early 1990s at the local university.)


• a half-year chemistry course. (I can take that here at the local university.)


• a half-year statistics course. (Just thinking of this gives me nightmares, but I’ll manage. Again, can probably take it here.)


• a full-year biology course. (Might be the death-knell of my substitute-teaching career, if there’s a lab, but I can probably take that here, too.)

My gut says to worry about financing all this later — that things will fall into place. For now, I’ll just worry about how to fit it all in, making sure my ducks are in a row so I can apply.

Switching gears.

All of my life I wanted to be a teacher. As a child, I spent hours playing with my favourite toy, a Fisher Price schoolhouse, and I loved writing on the board in my father's classroom. No "astronaut" for me. We joke about "the family business", but I knew, on the inside, that teaching was what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to help people. I wanted to teach them things that they would use for the rest of their lives, and that would make their lives better. In short, I wanted to make a difference.

But things happened, as they usually do. I went off to university, planning to do a BSc in Geology (which was quickly changed to a BA in English), but when I wasn't accepted to a BEd program immediately following it, I decided I would have to take some more courses to bring up my marks. What I didn't know was that I was suffering from undiagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder, which would leave me with a string on F's on my transcript, simply because I couldn't stay awake long enough to go to class. I was living alone in a basement apartment that year, with snow up past the windows, and I was sleeping 18-20 hours a day. Needless to say, that year did nothing to improve my chances of doing a BEd degree.

I began substitute-teaching in the spring of 2000, and while it certainly has had its moments and characters, I have truly enjoyed almost all of it. But I've been rejected for the BEd program again and again, due to something that was more than ten years ago now, in spite of my experience, glowing recommendations, and a phone call from the university's former president of twenty-five years. And I began to think that a career in teaching was simply not meant to be.

Schools are changing. The kids are changing, the classroom atmosphere is changing, and even the parents are changing. The amount of work required from teachers is staggering, and the system is constantly demanding more. I know in my heart, as I have known for the past few years, that even if I were to get into a BEd program right now, I'd burn out long before I ever earned a decent retirement pension. Simply being the "cell phone police" on top of trying to get them to sit quietly, let alone do any work, is hard on the head day after day.

So the big question I've been wrestling with, with increasing anxiety, for the past five years has been, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" And the answer will likely surprise you as much as it surprised me.

I still want to help people. I still want to teach them things that they will use for the rest of their lives, and that will make their lives better. I still want to make a difference.

I'm going to be a dental hygienist.

Yeah, it surprised me, too. Health care was never a field I had ever considered, because a) my math abilities would never have gotten me through a science degree, let alone get me to med school, and b) I was going to be a teacher. But with my "baby sister" now a dentist, I've realized I'm fascinated by dentistry, and on New Year's Day, it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

The relief I feel at finally knowing what I'm "supposed to do" is beyond words, and I know deep in my bones that this is the right thing. In so many ways, it's a fresh start. The admissions process only looks at the last five courses taken, so that major bruise on my transcript from twelve years ago will not be an issue. I need to take some pre-requisite courses, too, so those will help tidy things up. I will have to go away for two years, but I was going to have to do that with a BEd program anyway, and I'm only going to a city that's four hours away and was my home for about ten years.

I have loved teaching, and I'm relieved that I will be doing it for at least one more year. I'm not ready to say goodbye to "my kids" just yet. But I've known for the past number of years that I couldn't do it for much longer, particularly financially. I'm getting to the point in life where I really need to start planning for my future. A career in dental hygiene will fulfill my needs to make a difference, as well as allow me to look after myself. And I can't tell you how excited I am to get started.

In the beginning.

All of my life I wanted to be a teacher. As a child, I spent hours playing with my favourite toy, a Fisher Price schoolhouse, and I loved writing on the board in my father’s classroom. No “astronaut” for me. We joke about “the family business”, but I knew, on the inside, that teaching was what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to help people. I wanted to teach them things that they would use for the rest of their lives, and that would make their lives better. In short, I wanted to make a difference.

But things happened, as they usually do. I went off to university, planning to do a BSc in Geology (which was quickly changed to a BA in English), but when I wasn’t accepted to a BEd program immediately following it, I decided I would have to take some more courses to bring up my marks. What I didn’t know was that I was suffering from undiagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder, which would leave me with a string on F’s on my transcript, simply because I couldn’t stay awake long enough to go to class. I was living alone in a basement apartment that year, with snow up past the windows, and I was sleeping 18-20 hours a day. Needless to say, that year did nothing to improve my chances of doing a BEd degree.

I began substitute-teaching in the spring of 2000, and while it certainly has had its moments and characters, I have truly enjoyed almost all of it. But I’ve been rejected for the BEd program again and again, due to something that was more than ten years ago now, in spite of my experience, glowing recommendations, and a phone call from the university’s former president of twenty-five years. And I began to think that a career in teaching was simply not meant to be.

Schools are changing. The kids are changing, the classroom atmosphere is changing, and even the parents are changing. The amount of work required from teachers is staggering, and the system is constantly demanding more. I know in my heart, as I have known for the past few years, that even if I were to get into a BEd program right now, I’d burn out long before I ever earned a decent retirement pension. Simply being the “cell phone police” on top of trying to get them to sit quietly, let alone do any work, is hard on the head day after day.

So the big question I’ve been wrestling with, with increasing anxiety, for the past five years has been, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” And the answer will likely surprise you as much as it surprised me.

I still want to help people. I still want to teach them things that they will use for the rest of their lives, and that will make their lives better. I still want to make a difference.

I’m going to be a dental hygienist.

Yeah, it surprised me, too. Health care was never a field I had ever considered, because a) my math abilities would never have gotten me through a science degree, let alone get me to med school, and b) I was going to be a teacher. But with my “baby sister” now a dentist, I’ve realized I’m fascinated by dentistry, and on New Year’s Day, it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

The relief I feel at finally knowing what I’m “supposed to do” is beyond words, and I know deep in my bones that this is the right thing. In so many ways, it’s a fresh start. The admissions process only looks at the last five courses taken, so that major bruise on my transcript from twelve years ago will not be an issue. I need to take some pre-requisite courses, too, so those will help tidy things up. I will have to go away for two years, but I was going to have to do that with a BEd program anyway, and I’m only going to a city that’s four hours away and was my home for about ten years.

I have loved teaching, and I’m relieved that I will be doing it for at least one more year. I’m not ready to say goodbye to “my kids” just yet. But I’ve known for the past number of years that I couldn’t do it for much longer, particularly financially. I’m getting to the point in life where I really need to start planning for my future. A career in dental hygiene will fulfill my needs to make a difference, as well as allow me to look after myself. And I can’t tell you how excited I am to get started.