Exhibit: Career Center

Benchmark: Personal Management

Skills: P108- Go beyond what is asked to improve personal, educational, or work-related projects

          P109- Recognize a need or opportunity and take appropriate action

 

                “Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or stay afraid of taking them.” –Jim Carrey. This quote from Jim Carrey stands very true. Throughout your life, you are offered many opportunities that will change your life. Often, people are reluctant to take such opportunities and they end up missing out on something that could have changed their lives and moved it in a more positive direction. The people who take note of and consider these advantages are more likely to succeed in their endeavors. A time in my life where I recognized an opportunity to better myself personally, educationally, and also improve my work ethic was when I decided to enroll in the Jackson Area Career Center my junior year of high school. Among the many classes at the career center, I decided to join the Dental Occupations class. I chose this class for several reasons.

                Ever since I was a child I have always known I wanted to do something big, I wanted to make something out of my life and I wanted to accomplish more than the average person does in a lifetime. This, even after a decade of growing, is still a constant in my life. I know that I personally hold something that most people do not have. I have through my life been through hardships of which had made me a stronger person and not only strengthened my desire to succeed but it made me able to be a visionary for the future and know that with self-confidence I can do anything I set my mind to. I have also known I wanted to be in healthcare. I come from a long line of female nurses. My grandmother was a Registered Nurse and my mother is a Nurse Practitioner. I knew being a nurse was not right for me personally, but I knew I wanted to have a career in health. It was around my sophomore year of high school, after doing tours of the Career Center, that I realized the medical field isn’t only doctors and nurses but that there was a separate field of healthcare, dentistry. After visiting the Dental Occupations class I realized that this may be something I wanted to do and my ambition and dream has only grown from that moment. In the summer of that year, my dear grandmother was suffering from stage four cancer. As she was on her deathbed and she took her last breathe I, along with several other of my family members, were right by her side as she went to a better place. As we prepared for the coroner to arrive we all prepared her for her journey. While my mother and my aunt picked out her outfit, it was my job to brush and clean her dentures. Even though most people would have a hard time doing something like this because they were in another person’s mouth, this did not bother me. I was the one who volunteered to do this and it made a special memory of which only strengthened my passion.

                Being in the career center and being a second year student now is something that I am quite proud of. I have made good, positive strides in my class in terms of my attendance, grades and also extracurricular activities.  I have been a part of organizations such as Health Occupation Students of America, or HOSA. In this organization I have competed in my event, Dental Terminology, against other students from across Michigan. This is something I am proud of because HOSA is not required in my class, but recommended. I took the initiative to take on the work that comes with HOSA on top of my class work, in order to add to my knowledge of dentistry. Being a part of something bigger is empowering and also very encouraging.

                Being a person who isn’t afraid to stand out and make something more of their life are the people who create a better society. Being a dentist, you are a viewed as a person of prestige in the community. It is your job to recognize needs of the community and also needs of people around the world. When you are presented with an opportunity to better yourself, you must take it in order to grow as a person. As a college student, there will be many times that I will be presented with an opportunity; it is my job to take these opportunities to make my passion even more achievable. I have had experiences in my life that have formed my ideas and have made me a person with a strong dedication towards what I am working for. When given a chance, it is the strong, determined people who take it.