Someone cared
Carlos Moretta
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| Carlos Moretta, RDH, SD’01, is a senior dental student, and co-vice president of the Dental Student Association. |
Two questions:
First of all, “What makes you think you are U of X School of Dentistry
material?” Second, “What makes you think, in the age of preventive
dentistry, that we have any need for new dentists?” I remember thinking,
“These are pretty weak weeding tactics.” The director of admissions
of this prestigious dental school seemed to be merely going through the
motions with just another wannabe prospect.
I took a deep breath and decided to answer his questions,
although this unpleasant drill swayed me against accepting an offer to
complete my dental education at this institution. I began, “What
you don’t know, Doctor, is that I am already U of X material, having
graduated from dental hygiene at one of your sister branches. And of course,
as a dentist yourself, you must know that about fifty percent of the population
visits the dentist only when they have a problem. The other fifty percent
visits regularly. Given that this statistic has been consistent for more
than a decade, we both know there is room for me in dentistry.
To this he replied, “So, you’re a hygienist?
Let’s see what we can do to get you in here as soon as possible!”
Having U of X in my rear-view, I thought to myself, “You
know, Carlos, if this was the only school that came calling, you’d
hate it... but you’d go.” Did the admissions process have to
be that way? Not every applicant can go toe-to-toe with an intimidating
admissions officer who’s probing for just the “right” answers.
What if, in this sifting through potential students, the
admissions officers could tap into the applicant’s genuine soul,
get a more representative sample of an applicant’s character, and
establish a long lasting rapport, even if the applicant doesn’t have
a chance in the world of getting in... Wow, what a beautiful world. Well,
I was one who didn’t get in their first time at bat. What appeared
to be a devastating blow, ended up being a neat six-month process leading
to my acceptance to Loma Linda University School of Dentistry.
The first time I met the admissions officer from LLUSD,
I didn’t know what to expect. What a phenomenal experience. I remember
thinking, “Even if I don’t get in this first time (and I didn’t),
LLU is where I want to be.” I didn’t even know what the school
looked like. Didn’t care. I just knew that if everyone at LLU was
like this admissions officer, even if I was far from home, I’d be
just fine.
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| Jennifer Barry, SD’99, pediatric dentistry graduate student, and Carlos Moretta, SD’01, examine a pediatric patient on her first-ever visit to a dentist. |
In the following months, through the application process
and a convenient toll-free number that U of X didn’t even have, the
admissions department at LLUSD became very well acquainted with me. I
would call so often that they’d learned to identify my voice. I imagine
I called so often, they would probably put me on hold, continue whatever
they were doing for a few minutes, then pick up to tell me there was no
change on the status of my application since the last time I had phoned,
which was probably the day before. I was desperate, yet I would always
hear a warm smile from whoever was talking to me from the admissions office.
It wasn’t long until, after getting my academic act
together and somewhat manhandling the DAT, the admissions committee saw
fit to grant me a chance.
To this day, I am convinced that second only to divine intervention,
my admission to LLUSD was largely due to the efforts of one person. A
person who takes the time to visit the trenches where candidates bare
their souls to admissions officers; who made me feel as though I was in
the presence of family during our interview; who managed to open me up
with such skill that I expressed what my weaknesses were, when I only
wanted to showcase my strengths. This person commands respect, admiration,
and appreciation from all students, especially those recruited by her.
For years, she has crusaded to increase the numbers of under-represented
student populations. I’ve seen her smile when students succeed, hurt
when they slip up, and cry when they aren’t given a chance. In more
ways than one, she is a woman among men and she holds the best interests
of LLUSD at heart. She was the one who recruited my mind and my efforts
to Loma Linda.
Don’t know her? She’s Sylvia Davis, MA, director of admissions, my angel.
All contents copyright © 2001 Loma Linda University.
All rights reserved. Revised February 14, 2001
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