Alyssa – future orthodontist

I really want to make people happy. What better way to accomplish this goal than to help them have a beautiful smile? My teeth are not only crooked but some never grew in. My mom was lucky because she never grew wisdom teeth despite being very wise. Unlike her, I have wisdom teeth but am missing two random teeth in the front. As a result, I will have to get a couple of fake teeth implanted once I grow up.

My orthodontist and his staff are really awesome. They play cool music for us and make going to the doctor an awesome experience. They even have a room with massage chairs so that we can wait for the doctor in style. I recently decided that I would like to go to dental school when I grow up so that I can also help people have an awesome experience when they go to the orthodontist.

In high school, I will need to take classes in chemistry, physics, biology and anatomy as well as learn a foreign language. According to http://work.chron.com/educational-skills-required-become-orthodontist-15032.html, I would need to earn a 4-year bachelor’s degree in a scientific field, such as chemistry, and then pass the DAT (Dental Acceptance Test). Applicants should also have a lot of volunteer hours, an excellent GPA and lots of letters of recommendation. Once accepted into a 4-year dental school, I would need to receive 3 more years of post-graduate orthodontics training and then pass several clinical and licensing exams.

The opportunities for this field are growing because the population is always growing and genetics rarely blesses kids with perfect teeth.

Please help me make people want to smile really big and just say “cheese” by selecting me as a winner. Let’s work together to change kids’ lives!

Alyssa's essay appears here as written, to preserve the young author’s unique voice and individual writing style. However, we have deleted personally identifiable information to protect the student’s privacy.