 Hello everybody, Andrew Maeski here with Dental Tutoring. If you are a new dental assisting student or you haven't quite started the program yet but you're excited, this is the video for you because I will be talking to you guys about how to make the most and how to get started with your dental hygiene or sorry, dental assisting program. So I do teach dental hygiene students too. So that's why I tend to get the dental assisting, the dental hygiene mixed up but I do teach dental assistants as well of course. I was a dental assistant about 14 years ago for a couple of years and then I went back to school to be a dental hygienist. I am also a restorative hygienist and I do now own my own dental hygiene practice. So I do it all and I've been tutoring for about 14 years now. So if you need help, please let me know. But yeah, so what are the best things or something to do to get started for your program? The best thing that might seem obvious is to get organized and by this, I mean by a calendar and an agenda. So not just one, but by both. I want you guys to put up like a nice large calendar in your room, in your dorm room, in your whatever room and put that up there. So then that way every test, every exam, even every class, you have put it on that calendar, have some fun, have like different color pens, different color markers for different classes, tests, assignments, whatever. Make it fun and make it exciting. In your agenda, carry it with you everywhere. Make sure to write down after every test you have, every exam, write down your mark. After every single test you have, and again, every single exam, I want you guys to write down what you remembered from that exam. Also write down what you felt you should have studied more of and what you might have studied too much. That will help you come the final exam. It will also help you for the board exam. I know that might seem like way too far off, but it will help you. So it's up to you if you even want to keep a separate binder for that to make note after every single test, every single exam. And that kind of helps you guys have closure if that's the right word after the test, after the exam too, because you're like thinking of so much, like, oh, did I get this question right? Did I get this question right? Write them down. And then if you need to, check in the textbook, check in your notes and see if you got the question right. But even before you start the program, your program or your school should be giving you a list of textbooks. Some schools want you to purchase them yourself off of Amazon. If you need help, let me know, because I can kind of show you guys where to get them. But some schools will also provide the textbooks for you. Do you need brand new textbooks? No. If you're looking to save money, you don't need new textbooks. Buy textbooks from another student from that school or just post in a Facebook group. The dental assisting ones, the dental hygiene professional ones, post and see if somebody has your textbooks. Cause I remember when I was done school, I just wanted to sell them. I just wanted to get them out of there. Plus I wanted to make some extra money. So I had no problem doing that. Even if you are selling them for a lot less, that means somebody like you is so happy to get them. Yes, they're used, but you can literally save hundreds of dollars per textbook. So do that. You don't have to buy new. You might think you want new. I did. You might think you want new. But after a couple months, you don't care. You don't give a damn if it's new or used. Trust me, you will save a fortune. So keep organized. Make sure to get a list of all of the textbooks you need. But the thing is too about that. Your program may even tell you you need a textbook when you really don't. You might only open it up like once or twice. So really kind of find out from previous students what you actually need. And teachers are different too. So if they had one teacher, your teacher might be different. So just kind of be careful about that. And another thing to prepare is already, I want you guys to take time off work. If you're working full time, don't. Having that said, I worked not full time, but more than part time because I had to. I couldn't afford it. I was in Toronto for assisting actually. I was living at home, but I still worked part time because I was saving up money to buy a car. But anyways, that's a long story. But if you guys don't have to work, please don't. In fact, don't work at all if you don't have to because it will be stressful. You'll be doing a lot. But if you do have to work, please cut back to at least part time. Trust me, you will thank me later. If your job doesn't let you quit, or at least, you know, still work there, but look for something else in the meantime because trust me, you don't, you cannot go to school and work the evenings. I did that not every evening, but a lot of them and looking back, I wish I hadn't. No money is worth it unless you absolutely have to, right? But it was way too hard, way too hard. Another thing to help you guys is look into my Dental L Student Academy. I help you guys all throughout school if you have a question about a certain test, a certain exam, if you have projects coming up, if you have clinicals, if you just need help, like, hey Andrea, I'm confused. How do you take a maxillary impression versus a mandibular? You know, I can help you with these easy questions that are easy to me, but you might be like, okay, I'm so confused. What's an impression? Like, what's a negative impression? What's a positive? I'm so confused. I can help you. And the nice thing is, is that you would be entered into our private Facebook group. So students are in there. We talk, we network all the time. Ask a silly question. We don't mind. We will help you guys, you know, and then when you are almost done your program, you will be helping the newer ones. So sign up. You have full access until you are done your program. So two years access, two years, a full two years, no questions asked, okay? Just keep in mind, if you decide to drop out, you know, you still have access. You might not need it, but you do have access, right? So just don't drop out. I can help you guys with that, okay? Because where was I going with this? Oh yeah, so what I was saying is, oh man, what was I going with this? I can't remember. But you will love it. You're not going to want to drop out, okay? If you do, you do talk to me about it. If it's within the first semester, okay. But if you decide to stop the program in your last semester, I can't help you with that one, but let me know. What else can I tell you guys? Think positive and get excited, okay? A lot of students, so as silly as this sounds, a lot of students want to start to study right away because they want to be one step ahead in their program. Don't study right away. I'll say it again, don't study right away. You don't know where your teacher is going to start, even if they give you like a classroom schedule, you don't know what's going to be on that first test. Don't waste your time studying now. Take a break, relax, you know, work if you have to, but don't start studying until your first day of class. Believe me, I was that person too. As soon as I found out that I was in a dental assisting school, I wanted every textbook, I wanted to start studying, but it was a waste, you guys, because I didn't know what I was looking at, but another thing too, if you're inside the program and you really, if you're inside my program, the Dental L Student Academy, I can help you to kind of teach you guys what to study right away. So you are a step ahead no matter what, but you don't have to, you don't have to, but I can help you with that. So I hope these little tips helped. I hope you're so excited to start your program. Let me know if you need anything and if you want inside the Dental L Student Program, I do offer payment plans. So it is a win-win. I will leave the link for you guys on the bottom. Any questions, let me know and good luck. I look forward to talking to all of you, okay? See you soon.