Capernaum
I feel like I’m distinguished from other applicants because I have a desire and heart to serve kids with disabilities. I found this passion during my first couple years of college through a program called Younglife. Younglife is an outreach program to high school students that spreads the love of Christ. But unlike other “church camps”, Younglife advertises the best week of your life (it truly was the best week of my high school life), through challenging obstacle courses, fun program teams, and bringing high school students together from all across the nation. The last two summers (Aug 5-12 2012, and July 6-13 2013) I had the opportunity to go again, but this time as a leader in a group of special needs kids. Down Syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy were all factors in these young men’s’ life. But as a leader I had the opportunity to spend a whole week with them, watching and walking with them in their walk with Christ. But, as I often notice in people, the oral health in my friends was often poor. I learned that there are a lot of contributing factors and that negligence isn’t always the main cause for the poor condition of their teeth. For instance, Down Syndrome children are at a disadvantage early on because of delayed eruption, having larger tongues, and by having smaller than average and missing teeth that often have roots that are shorter than average. Oral care should be a top priority, but I fear that it usually has to take a back seat to other medical issues and expenses. I aspire to help alleviate this problem by confronting it through making the office enjoyable and comfortable to the environmental expectancies of my patient, by providing low expense care, and by doing whatever else it takes to help with the oral health problem in my friends.