 Buddy, Andrea Majeski here. I want to talk to you guys about what it's really like in dental hygiene school. So I was a dental assistant first. I became a dental hygienist. I became a restorative hygienist after that. But my dental hygiene program was definitely the most memorable one. And I'm not going to sugarcoat anything for you. I'm going to talk to you guys about the good and the bad. I've been in the dental profession for 16 years now. And I can still remember my time in dental hygiene school. So guess what? Full disclosure, I took the dental hygiene program twice. I took it twice because the first time I took the program, my school had gone bankrupt. The owner of the school went bankrupt. And we were all in my class three weeks away from graduating and we had to stop the program. He literally went bankrupt, shut down the school, left a big story for that one. If you want the full story, definitely do a search on my YouTube channel because I talk about it then. But three weeks away from graduating, you're pretty much done. You know everything. You just had to take the national board exam. You're good to go. But no, we weren't allowed to do that. We had to have a diploma in our hands to prove that we graduated all of that. So I had to take the program again. So I've taken the dental hygiene program twice. So let me also say if I can do it twice and I struggled a lot, would I do it again? No. But I guess if I had to, yes, I would because dental hygiene is truly my dream career. I love it. If dental hygiene is what you want to do, stop at nothing to get there. It's a very difficult program. Why is it difficult? Because for most colleges or universities, depending on where you go to take your program, you do need to get a 70% in all of your classes to pass, 70 to 75%. And that might sound easy to you, but it's really not. Think about courses like pharmacology or pathology. Those were some of the ones that I struggled in and I barely got a 70% in those ones. I remember being so stressed out, just thinking, oh, can I just pass? You'll have instructors that are difficult. You'll have instructors that you swear they're there to make your life a living hell. You'll have amazing instructors as well that you might be learning some difficult course material, but they make it so easy and such a pleasure to learn. So I find that's what really makes the program difficult. Are those harder instructors that just try to push you down? Literally, push you down. They're not there to help you. You swear they're making your life more difficult. That's what I felt like in my dental hygiene program. I had the good instructors and then not so good ones. I had instructors that just didn't seem to like me very much. I would fail my clinicals because my arm was too high. And I'd be saying, okay, you're failing me and your note is that my arm is too high? Is that even allowed? But they're the instructor. They can do what they want. So imagine my annoyance when you fail a clinical. If it's with patients, you have to get a whole other patient. And that's the other part of the dental hygiene program that's very difficult is seeing real people. So usually the first semester is mostly theory, maybe even the second semester. A program is 18 months to two years, depending on which ones you took. I took the accelerated program, so it was 18 months, but that's even more difficult. I remember theory the first semester, but then already second semester, you're learning practical skills and then you're learning on each other. So you're practicing on your student partners. It's still a real person. So you're extremely nervous. I remember looking at all of these instruments that I had to learn, thinking, how am I going to do this? But you can and you will. I can tell you that. I'm the type of person. I don't like learning new things necessarily because I only like doing what I'm good at doing. If I'm not good at something, I don't like it. I get very stressed out. But anytime you learn something new, you're not going to be good at it, right? When I first started cleaning teeth, I was probably horrible. Now I like to think I'm a pro being in the business 16 years later. So that's something that I want all of you guys to remember. It's going to be difficult. It's going to be very hard. But as is anything when you're learning something new the first time, as is anything when you don't know how to do something and you're learning and you have all of that stress along with it. I also worked while I was in school. If you can help it, do not work. It will be a lot easier for you. I had to manage my work schedule and study time, homework, projects, all of that. I would work after school almost every day. On the weekends, if I was working, I knew I wouldn't be able to study. During the week, if I wasn't working, I was studying. I never really had free time to myself, but I had to work. I didn't have the choice. There was no other money coming in. But I had also graduated and I wasn't in debt. So that was very nice. I definitely say to strive towards that if you can. But if you can help it, do not work while you're in school. Take out that loan if you need it. That's the one thing I definitely would have changed is I would have not worked while I was in school because I was so jealous of those people who didn't have to work after school because you're tired. It takes a lot out of you. I'm a very, I don't know if emotional person is the right way to say it. But when I'm stressed at school thinking about a test, thinking about projects, thinking about homework by the end of the day, I'm physically exhausted. I can not keep my eyes open. But then I'd have to work. It would have been so nice to go home, have a nap, have dinner, and then study for a couple hours. That would have been a dream, truly. So if I haven't said it yet or if you didn't hear me the first few minutes, dental hygiene school is very hard, but you can do it. If you feel like giving up, that's normal. I felt like giving up almost every day. But then I remembered, this is my dream. I need to push through it. Everybody can do it. So can you. It's not forever. And you'll have something to talk about. Once you graduate, you'll be so happy. You do have to take a board exam to pass. But if you need help passing the board exam, that's where I come in. That's why I'm a dental hygiene tutor because I'm truly passionate about helping those students who are struggling in school. I can help you. I love helping students prep for their board exam so you can pass. So all of that hard work in school isn't for nothing if you don't pass the board exam. You need to pass it. So I love helping students because I remember the struggles I faced. So dental hygiene school, you guys, is not easy. If anybody tells you it's easy, they're lying. But it's worth it. And it's also expensive. I should mention that. I don't know how much it is these days. When I took the program, it was about $45,000 for 18 months. Remember, I took the program twice. Yeah. So if I can do it, you guys can do it. Take out a loan if you can. Don't work while you're in school if you can help it. And that will truly help you. Comment below if you guys have any questions. If this is your dream, do it. Don't listen to anybody else who might be telling you, don't do it. It's not a good job. Don't get into it. It's truly an amazing profession. You just have to work for the right office. But we'll talk about that when you graduated. I am now a dental hygienist who has her own business. So I'm a mobile dental hygienist. I live in Ontario where we can have our own business. We don't have to work under a dentist, which is fantastic. Truly a dream come true, having my own dental hygiene business. So I am here to help all of you. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll talk to you guys in the next episode.