PreDental Essay #5

Sample Essay #5

"Some of our greatest achievements come from the deep feelings of passion that we harbor in our inner selves. Passion is the distinctly intangible force that drives us through challenge after challenge until our final goals are met. Passion and desire led a nation to land on the moon and a single man to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel entirely on his back. I find that when one becomes passionate about a subject, the impediments that limit us seem to disappear until the final goal is reached. This is the way I have always led my life. I was taught that if you worked with your heart, the rewards would be waiting for you at the conclusion of your work. This is perhaps one of the greatest ideals that my parents have instilled in me.

As a high school Senior preparing to enter college in the fall, I did a lot of self evaluation to point myself in the direction of a career path that I could put all of my heart and energy into. I examined the activities that I participated in and saw recurring themes. I saw that I was happiest and most fulfilled while I was working with my hands. Whether it was playing jazz and blues guitar, building models, working as a bicycle mechanic or a multitude of other activities that required the use of manual manipulation. I also noticed the tremendous pride that I had in owning and operating a landscaping business. In terms of academia, I found that I was most passionate studying biology and chemistry. For a long time I struggled and wrestled with different career choices. I was looking for a career that included being an entrepreneur, a scientist, and a mechanic. Some of these choices ranged from a physician to a chemist to a plumber. All were attractive but I knew that there was something missing from each. Not all of my desires would be met with these careers in mind.

The critical point came on a routine visit to my own private dentist, I curiously turned around in the chair to peer at what was occurring behind me. There, before me, lay the answer. Spread out among the stainless steel of the cart were a multitude of tools! Probes, picks, drills, everything a tinkerer of the oral cavity could dream of. It was then that I put the pieces together and made connections between what I was doing as a mechanic, and what I could be doing as a dentist. The precision wrenches were analogous to the precision tools that the dentist employs. The oil and grease of bicycle parts analogous to the coursing life blood of the body. It was at this time that I realized that dentistry would fulfill all of the expectations that I had from a career. I realized with my heart that dentistry was a career that would become limitless for me.

College was an experience unto itself. Nearly complete with my education, I can say that there has been no other experience that I have had that has changed me so much as a person. Going to a multi-cultural school has allowed me to appreciate and get an education from other cultures that I previously was never in contact with. Despite the positive experiences I have encountered as a student, I got off to a slow start. Overwhelmed is a term that I use to describe my first college experiences. Trying to balance ownership of a business and working as a mechanic while going to school full time proved to be too much. Sadly, I left my position of Master Mechanic at the shop. To my benefit my grades picked up during the second semester of my sophomore year as I began to spend more time on my schoolwork. That year I had my first research experience under the direction of [Dr. Generic] in the field of Dental Anthropology. Studying tooth morphology of extinct species of Lemurs, I learned the importance of tooth shape and size in the mastication of foods. That summer (1997) I continued to work with the AEGD residents at the [Blah Blah] school of Dental Medicine. I realized that there was more to dentistry than the stainless steel tools and starched white lab coats. The social context was just as important as the procedures themselves. Not only is the dentist an artisan of probe and pick, but is also a collaborator along with the patient toward the goal of maintaining proper oral health through education. Most importantly, the dentist has to earn the patients’ trust. It is here, that I draw parallels between owning my own business and the field of dental medicine. Success lies in gaining my patients’ trust whether it is via prescribing a healing lawn treatment program, or carrying out a surgical procedure to alleviate oral discomfort. Volunteering as a commuter student peer partner allowed me to practice the social skills necessary to gain the trust of strangers. Freshman students who were once shy and untrusting found me to be a person whom they could confide to and expect a straight answer from.

As the completion of my undergraduate training draws near, I look back at the progress that I have made over the past three years. I noticed that after taking organic chemistry and working as a chemistry research student and teaching assistant, that I discovered what I was passionate about. Chemistry was the subject that became my "drive" through college. Organic chemistry is the course that changed my life. It changed me from an aimless student to a student driven by passion. As a result my GPA steadily rose and I began to become a much more confident person. I feel that I have finally become the student I need to be in order to be successful in the academic portions of dental schooling and in fulfilling the continuing educational requirements. I am now a researcher in the department of Oral Biology and Pathology. I am working closely with periodontists on a new class of drugs that will alleviate the symptoms of periodontal disease when combined with regular root planning and scaling. Overall oral health has profound effects on the health of the rest of the body. It is my goal as a future practitioner, to educate and improve the oral health of my patients."

Once you have been admitted, send a "generic" copy of your essay to essays@predental.com .

For example: "While going to U.W., I worked 20 hours a week for Doctor Steve Jones" should be changed to "While going to [generic university], I worked 20 hours a week for [Doctor Generic]."