Outside The Classroom

Outside of the classroom, I enjoy relaxing and doing some arts and crafts with friends and family. As a child, I have always loved being creative in anything and everything I do. Some of the arts and crafts I enjoy are painting, bullet journaling, knitting, and drawing. Last year, I got an iPad and started using a program called Procreate to draw and create whatever I liked. I saved up and purchased a Cricut and started making stickers; I even started designing and making my own t-shirts and sweatshirts. Being design coordinator for the Dental Hygiene program is so great because when I get a project that needs to be done such as a flyer for a party or some designs for t-shirts or sweatshirts, it gives me that relaxation and break from studying, working, and more. One day, I would love to have a side job doing something creative such as selling stickers, sweatshirts, and t-shirts of my own design and donating to a great cause with the profit I make whether it's big or little. This semester, despite COVID-19 and all of the restrictions, I had the opportunity to help out the community in so many different ways. In August, I was able to help out some families with picking up tree branches, leaves, and so much more. Some homes were highly affected and some were not; we helped without hesitation no matter how big or small the mess was. In October, we were offered to help Dr. Davis with the Cub Scouts event, Kaitlyn McCreary and I partnered up to help teach the children how to properly and effectively wash their hands. This was a great experience because most of them did not know the proper way to wash their hands so I believe that we both made an impact on the children's way of washing their hands moving forward. This benefited me because now I know that most children are not taught the proper way to wash their hands and from now on, I will take that in consideration and demonstrate to others that may not know.

Community Events

Hurricane Relief

I had the great opportunity to help some families after Hurricane Laura hit Monroe, LA. Hurricane Laura hit Monroe harder than anyone really expected or predicted. Some of my peers and I were able to help a few days after the hurricane hit; we were able to help pick up branches and rake up leaves. We stumbled upon a home that we were certain was not effected by the hurricane but it looked like it. We went ahead and started picking up things like branches, pumpkin seeds, banana peels, and so much more. Two other teams ended up coming to the home and helped us. Overall, this was a meaningful community service that I was able to attend and be a part of.

Cub Scout Event

Dr. Davis hosted a Cub Scout event that consisted of different stations for the club members to go around and learn about many different things such as proper hand washing, creating own food, flipping flap jacks, and many more. Kaitlyn McCreary and I were in charge of the hand washing station, which was one of the most important stations to the event. We were able to get the children to grasp the proper technique of hand washing such as when we to wet their hands, how long to wash their hands for, all the locations on their hands that most people neglect, and more. With COVID-19, we made sure the Cub Scouts were able to perfect their hand washing technique to prevent germs from spreading. Overall, this was such a fun event filled with lots of education and snacks!

MLK Service Day

ULM hosted a Martin Luther King Jr service day to organize can goods and help the community locating at the Louisiana Delta Community College. Most of my peers and I attended this community event to sort out and organize many donated canned goods that were donated by the community. I enjoyed this experience because it brought the community together even during tough times such as the pandemic. Even on a national holiday, there was a great amount of volunteers who showed up on an early Saturday morning to help out with picking up canned goods from different locations on the ULM campus and travel to LDCC to organize it by different categories. Overall, this event was enjoyable because everyone was so positive and willing to help one another.

Riverfront Team Up to Clean Up

Trapp's Restaurant hosted a clean up by the river on a Saturday morning and provided lunch for volunteers. My classmates and I were separated into two different groups and traveled to different areas to pick up litter and trash from the surrounding areas near Trapp's and the river. This community service event taught me that the Ouachita community and people are so willing to give up their Saturday morning to volunteer and clean up around the community to make it clean and beautiful. Overall, this experience showed me that there are so many ways to help out the community and that we are not strictly there spreading information and awareness on oral health; we can do much more for the community, we are not limited to just that.

Extracurricular Activities and Hobbies

Travel - This hobby opens new doors for me to meet people from all over the country and world. I believe this affects me professionally by understanding how people from different cultures, different ethnicities, different backgrounds, and more. As a hygienist, being offensive is not professional and I believe this will help open eyes to not only myself but other hygienists as well.

Arts and Crafts - As a young child, I have always been creative. I have numerous photos of me drawing, painting, and creating things at a very young age. Being creative helps relax the body and mind and dental hygiene can be a stressful profession and doing arts and crafts can help. It can help with calmness and it can also help with hand exercises such as knitting, sculpting, and more.

Photography - Recently, I have gotten into photography and it is an intensive learning process. As a teenager, I have always loved taking photos and capturing the moment. As many would say, being present and not taking photos is better but I disagree. I believe a balance of both is the perfect combination; being present in time is important but also having photos for memories will last a lifetime. My parents kept a photo album of disposable pictures of my childhood and I have always loved looking back and it always made me happy my parents captured these memories. Professionally, I can continue to learn and better myself and possibly help advertise for my office.