I will never forget the big, toothy grin from an elderly lady during my first dental shadowing experience. She had just received new dentures, and she was so thrilled about being able to speak and chew normally again that she couldn't stop smiling. Speaking, chewing, smiling; I'd always taken these simple abilities for granted. That changed during my senior year of high school when I set up a shading opportunity with Dr. M, a local dentist. As I observed Dr. M complete restoration, extract teeth, and fabricate dentures for his patients, I began to consider pursuing dentistry as a career, I was touched by how a seemingly small dental procedure made such a huge difference in someone's life.
I entered college with plans to pursue dentistry, but I explored other fields as well, to expand my horizons. Early on in my college career, I became fascinated with neuroscience, drawn by how it connects physiology and behavior. Eager to get my hands wet, I worked as both a clinical monitor in a sleep lab and as a technician in a neurology basic research lab.
The sleep lab ran fourteen day inpatient studies about the effects of sleep deprivation on healthy adults. The battery of cognitive test and chronic sleep deprivation often left the subjects so I tried different watts make their experience more bearable. When there was downtime int eh study protocol, chatted with the subjects, played Monopoly with them, and even brand one women's hair, Felt satisfied knowing that my simple actions made someone else's day better, and I became connected to each person that I worked with during the studied. My experiences as a clinical monitor confirmed that I want a career that gives me the chance to make a different in the well-being of others.
The basic research lab that I worked in uses the nematode C. elegant as a neurological model, In addition to pouring agar plates and mixing reagents for work study, I also conducted a independent research project to study the expression and function of a class of genes encoding prion-like proteins in C. elegant. One of the methods that I used was DNA transformation via microinjection, which involved synthesizing reporter DNA using PCR, injecting it into the gonads of adult wild-type worms, and observing the transformed progeny under a fluorescent microscope. During the process of conducting experiments, I realized the I loved working with my hands Oerforming manual tasks such as transferring worms under microscope with a metal pick and injecting DNA into microscopic worm gonads came easily to me. I even found these tasks therapeutic; time passed quickly while I conducted my experiments Because of my lab experiences, I feel more prepared and confident in my ability to learn the difficult manual skills of dentistry.
Outside of research, one of my greatest passions is dance, The Pan-Asian Dance Troupe was the first 'club' I joined in college, although it's really more of a family. Through dance, I've gained a are understanding of the power of teamwork. A simple arm movement cab become magnificent when performed in synchronization with a large group. As artistic director, I became responsible for coordinating practices and overseeing the production of our annual show. Finding practice space and scheduling over a dozen dances weekly to fit the schedules of busy group members was no easy task, It required a great deal of organization and consistent communication with the entire troupe. Being in dance has taught me how to be a team player and a leader.
Ultimately, the culmination of my college experiences have confirmed my desire to pursue dentistry. Seek a happy medium between my two research experiences; I crave both the social's interactions of being a clinic monitor as well as the intellectual and technical challenges of conducting independent C. elegant research.
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