I have been involved in the pre-dental club as an active member since the beginning of my freshman year at IUPUI. I have been able to improve my networking and communication skills, as we have monthly meetings and volunteer service events with the club. These events have given me the opportunity to meet other pre-dental students and faculty from the IU School of Dentistry. 

During the late spring of my freshman year, I was appointed to the 2022-2023 Officer Board as the Volunteer Events Coordinator for the club. In this role, I have been able to vastly improve my communication skills, as I have been responsible for coordinating service events with representatives from corporations and relaying the event information to our 200+ club members. I have also learned how to be an efficient and compassionate leader; members have come to me with their concerns, questions, and feedback, and I am responsible for taking the information they give me and using it to better the club and its outreach. 

One of my favorite opportunities that I have had with the pre-dental club is a recent volunteer event that I created and coordinated. I came up with an idea to prepare and donate 100 dental kits to a local Indianapolis homeless shelter. This event was extremely successful, and the homeless shelter was very appreciative of the kits, so we were able to see the direct impact of our work on our community.

I am currently working as an introductory chemistry (C105) PLTL recitation leader at IUPUI. In this role I am required to coordinate and lead two-hour weekly workshop sessions for a group of around 10 students, facilitate and host exam study sessions for introductory chemistry students, and collaborate with professors and other mentors to improve teaching and workshop quality. This position has been one of, if not the most influential experiences that I have been apart of. Seeing my students learn and grow on a weekly basis due to my hard work is extremely rewarding. 

I have been able to advance most of my skills in this position. I am held to a very high standard in this position, as I am expected to be a role model to my students and other students in C105. In some sense, I am responsible for a part of my students' learning, and I have been forced to self evaluate my communication and understanding of the material to ensure that my students are learning in the way that helps them the most. I would say that my communication and questioning skills have improved the most through this position. As a leader, I am always trying to ask my students good questions to enable them to solve problems.

I have recently taken on a position as a Roar In Chemistry Mentor with the IUPUI Chemistry Department. I am responsible for leading and directing weekly one-hour mentoring sessions and encouraging the use of effective study skills for introductory chemistry students. I have found this position  be rewarding in the sense that the students who attend my sessions are not required to do so; they attend because they simply want to perform well in their classes and they count on me to help them do so.

This past summer I was able to shadow Dr. Justin Roberts in his private dental practice, Roberts Dental Group. The time I spent shadowing did nothing but increase my desire to go to dental school in the future. I was able to learn so much during my time shadowing Dr. Roberts. I was able to observe crown preparations and cementing, routine check ups, composite and amalgam fillings, tooth extractions, partial and complete denture fittings, and so many more interesting dental procedures. Besides the procedural aspect of dental offices, Dr. Roberts was extremely helpful in helping me understand what it takes to start a practice, tips for applying to dental school, and countless other topics when I was curious. I was even able to handle some of the equipment, learn about the computer system, and observe some of the other staff in the office. I plan on shadowing at more dental offices in the future, such as a pediatric office and an orthodontic office, but I will definitely go back to shadow Dr. Roberts. 

As a volunteer at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, I was able to foster lasting relationships with patients and families by assisting with transportation, meals, and errands. I was also responsible for performing tasks such as faxing, scanning, and copying documents assigned by supervisors and staff at the physical therapy office connected to the hospital. This opportunity has truly been one of the most influential experiences I have been involved in; as a volunteer, I was able to see a vast variety of patients and visitors in the clinical setting. From a family welcoming a new baby, to a grandmother fighting cancer, to a child who has lost a parent, I was one of the first faces these individuals saw when they walked through the doors at the hospital.

My time as a volunteer truly taught me the value and importance of communication. I learned how to give directions, instructions, information, and have small talk with people of very diverse backgrounds and ages. I also learned the importance of teamwork and time management. Without the other volunteers that I worked with, the tasks assigned to us would not have been able to be completed in a timely manner.

I am a barista at a local coffee shop in my hometown. Since my hometown is relatively small, this position has taught me the importance of building relationships with others, as we have "regulars" who come into the shop on a daily basis. It is important to build a connection with these individuals and build their trust, as they are ultimately the backbone of the business. This skill will easily translate into my future career as a dentist. It is crucial to build a strong and trusting relationship with your patients, and I believe that my time working as a barista has sufficiently prepared me to do so.

I recently starting volunteering weekly at Riley Hospital for Children in December of 2022. In this role, I work with a Child Life Therapist to bring some joy and play into patients' hospital rooms during their stay. During my shift, I am responsible for restocking and cleaning the playroom on the unit, assisting the Child Life Therapist with tasks (e.g. laminating, checking out toys from Riley Cheer Guild, or decorating the floor for upcoming holidays), and rounding on all the patients who are not in isolation. During my rounds, I stop in to check on patients and see if they want to play or hang out for a little while to bring some aspects of being a "normal" kid to their stay at Riley. Usually this entails playing everyone's favorite game of Uno, watching movies, painting, getting beat in board games, playing with PlayDoh, and whatever else the patients want to do.

I have learned so much from volunteering at Riley. The patients have inspired me to never take anything for granted and to see beauty in the toughest of times. The kids are always so excited to meet doctors, nurses, and volunteers during their time in the hospital. They have also taught me to appreciate the little things in life. There have been countless times when a patient's face has lit up over a pack of PlayDoh even though they are going through a hard time. I have also learned that play can be some of the best therapy for kids. 

I think there is an unmeasurable amount of value to performing this type of service. I think that volunteering in a hospital is a type of service environment that everyone should experience at least once because it teaches you to be kind to people when they are going through a hard time. I have had some of the most impactful experiences volunteering with Riley, and I have only been volunteering there for about 4 months. Volunteering at Riley has given me the opportunity to make even the smallest impact on these kiddos' lives, but the patients have made huge impacts on my life, as well. 

GOAL (Get Onboard Active Living) University is a program led by students that aims to educate young children in the Indianapolis Public School (IPS) System about healthy lifestyle and eating habits. In this program, I volunteered with a group of around 9 other students to direct physical activity and nutrition lessons for a group of around 50 elementary aged students in IPS schools to ensure understanding of healthy lifestyle habits. 

GOAL was a great way to get involved on campus during my first semester at IUPUI. I learned a lot about communication and teamwork from the program, and I look forward to participating again when I have some free time in my schedule.

As an LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation) tutor, I attend weekly science tutoring sessions on campus. I tutor for general chemistry, so I mainly help students in C101 and C105 review for exams, complete homework assignments, and review concepts during the sessions.