I’m from the African American community. Throughout my life, I have endured many challenges and adversaries because of my race, such as not having the same opportunities and being overlooked in many different ways which sent me on a path of becoming another statistic. Being the only child of a single young mother without a father figure at an early age, I took to unsavvy people and things to find a sense of family and love. In doing so I made a lot of mistakes growing up but always yearned for a better opportunity. I started working young and neglected education because I never felt good enough to reach higher than what was given to me as a teen and young adult. Over the years I began to break that cycle and reach for the education that I deserved and would change my life. Becoming a Dental Assistant has been a dream of mine and I stepped out of the stigmatism of African American women in the dental profession. This step has changed my life tremendously, I'm so grateful that I took a chance on myself to make a better life for myself and others. Every day I'm learning something new in this profession and I'm striving to be the best that I can. UEI has been a light in the darkness my life has endured and with its help, I will be that exception.