It's summer break (again)!

My 2nd summer break is finally here!  We have 3 weeks off after Spring Semester, and then 3 weeks off after our 8 week Summer Semester.  Also, I'll be getting married on August 11 and I very excited to open that new chapter in my life as well.  She'll be a nurse, the perfect occupation to come travel with me in the Air Force for a few years (at least) after I graduate.

Our school is going through some massive changes right now.  I just got trained taking digital radiographs last week, as our dark room was completely removed to make room for a brand new computer lab to view digital x-rays.  It looks amazing!  We are also dumping our paper charts in favor of axiUm, a digital record keeping software that will be the new lifeblood of our school.  The patient's x-rays, charting, treatment plan, financial information, etc. will all be in axiUm.  Each operatory will be getting a computer (presumably by the time we come back in August) where we can input this information.  This will dramatically change the look and feel of the way we deliver treatment.  My biggest concern is the faculty members that are not too excited about the introduction of new technology.  I think most of them see it as an obstacle rather than an opportunity.  It's unfortunate, but I think most of the students are very excited about getting rid of these paper records and get more in tune with how dentistry is done in the real world.  After all, most practices that my classmates will start or buy into will be using digital records of some kind so I think it's invaluable to learn dentistry using these kinds of technologies now.

On the Air Force front, not much is new.  Just bought some health insurance again for the new year and will be submitting a reimbursement for that soon.  Also, my LES (for my stipend) has been going to my old address and I've been trying to sort that out.  They come every 2 weeks so here in a couple days I'll see if my latest address change efforts will get them going where they need to be, to my new house!

On a side note, school is slowing down a lot now.  I'm excited because hopefully I can start getting back in the gym and get my body in shape for COT.  I played sports in high school and recreationally in college, and I even play basketball quite a bit now, so it's not like I'm out of shape by any means.  I can pull off about 9:40 on my 1.5 mile run which puts me near the high end of the Air Force PT scoring.  Having said that, I want to prepare myself in the best way possible and I'm looking forward to trimming that time even more and getting stronger for COT in the summer of 2014.

I think that's all for now, lots of personal changes and changes at school.  Things are getting easy which means I have more time to do the things I want to do.  It feels like the big hurdles have been overcome and now I just need to buckle in and keep doing what needs to be done and in 2 short years, I'll be a dentist!

It's also that time of year again when people are starting school and I'm getting more and more emails.  Don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions about the program and check out the tabs at the top for more information!

From birth to college

Here is a quick rundown of my journey to college...

From my birth in 1987 to the end of high school:

From when I was born to about 4 or 5 years old, we lived in a house in Summit Place in OKC, OK. We then moved to a new house... in the same neighborhood... and were there for many many years...

In elementary school, I was the smart kid who played soccer every single day at recess. I was always very small and fast, and that worked to my advantage quite nicely on the playground. I remember wanting to be an astronaut when I grew up but that didn't happen. I heard astronauts had to be good at math and I wanted no part of that.

My most vivid memory from elementary school was when my kindergarten teacher sat me down and had a talk with me after I got caught stealing 'tickets', the currency of choice in a kindergarten class.

I was also in a Farm Fresh commercial when I was in kindergarten... oh the good old days...

As for middle school, this is my super awkward stage. I was pretty shy and just sort of weird, but I guess it all worked out. I had a massive growth spurt in 7th grade but sadly that was about all the growing I've ever done. I grew quickly and it gave me some knee issues, but I managed. I quit soccer before 8th grade to pursue football. My new dream: play in the NFL.

My most vivid memory from middle school was during PE class in the morning of September 11, 2001. They called off PE for the day and let everyone watch the news for a couple hours. It was the most unbelievable thing I had ever seen and I'll never forget what it felt like to watch those towers fall.

In high school, things pretty well went according to the generic 'high school kid' template. I played football, had a few girlfriends, and spent far too much time watching TV and eating. High school football probably had the biggest impact on me because it showed me what working hard over a long period of time can bring you. It made me appreciate doing something for the long-term rather than just doing it for instant success.

My most vivid memory from high school was when I tore my ACL days before our first scrimmage sophomore year. I had to sit out the entire year and had to play with a knee brace for all of my Junior year. This pretty much cut out all hopes of the NFL thing, so I refocused again. This time, I decided I wanted to be an architect... but as I'll explain later in the college post, that didn't really pan out either...