Once upon a time, I used to be a dental student! I did, I really did. I was so proud of myself: I had this great routine where I never had to figure out what I’d wear the next day, because I owned an endless supply of antique green surgical scrubs. And they were SO comfortable, like a pair of pajamas, that I often found myself sleeping in them with my books lying across my chest, the booklight still beaming down on me, my glasses resting on the arm of the sofa. At three in the morning, I’d have to turn on The Weather Channel just to have a chatty person to keep me company while I pored over flow charts and glossy Netter illustrations of nasal conchae, nerves, shiny pink mounds of taste buds.
On the first day of class, I sat in the front row, careful not to miss a detail. But with every day came another quiz or exam, so in no time I migrated towards the back of the classroom, where I was able to efficiently gather notes and vent stress by making fun of geeky professors along with the other juvenile students in my class. I could rest my feet on the back of the chair in front of me without being noticed, and eat the rest of my egg McMuffin and orange juice, or study for the next exam.
In gross anatomy, we were assigned a woman in her mid-seventies. Her lungs were matte and moldy black from years of smoking. Her withered terrain made me sad and her cross-section was so yellow with fat that I couldn’t eat enchiladas for the entire year. For weeks I tried masking the smell of formaldehyde with Vicks Vap-O-Rub, but it left my nose chilled and my chest filled with a heavy ghost of tank juice (which is what I called the bath). By the end of the year I’d resigned to the smell of gross lab, because there was little time to fret over odors during finals.
In this hilarious and surreal picture above you see me posing, as if I were about to grind the surface of a tooth down with a huge burr. We were clowning around that day and I think this was a halfass attempt to be amusing. I look possessed. What do you think?
When I transferred to California (University of the Pacific) during my second year, I suddenly felt at a crossroads where dental school, and all the rigidity it imposed on me, represented a dead-end road. So, to sum up an emotional month or two that followed: I quit. And I haven’t looked back.
…But I would like to know where I put all those probes and scraping tools, because they’d come in handy right now with the encaustic painting!
Enjoy more Self Portrait Challenge.
Megan | 12-Jul-06 at 6:04 am | Permalink
Steph, what a fabulous story. I had to look at the banner to double check whose blog it was. You as a dentist is so – unexpected.
Nikki/Bedazzzled1 | 12-Jul-06 at 6:15 am | Permalink
I don’t know if you look possessed, but you sure do look happy with that instrument in your hand! A bit of a sadistic streak surfacing, perhaps?! LOL!
Nikki Ü
Steph | 12-Jul-06 at 6:17 am | Permalink
Thanks! I know, I had some something serious to prove to myself, I think. I was the little blue engine who could, and now I’m the little blue engine who says “What the hell were you THINKING?”
Georgia | 12-Jul-06 at 6:55 am | Permalink
Those tools would be very very handy for art projects! And on another note, you should have tried sucking on cinnamon Jolly Ranchers instead of the vapo rub, they work pretty well. I learned that one when we had to go to lab in Massage School… 🙂
Steph | 12-Jul-06 at 1:55 pm | Permalink
Wow! Nobody ever passed that on to us! I would have tried anything and Cinnamon Jolly Ranchers I actually love (of course, I’d have hated them by the year’s end!).
DebR | 12-Jul-06 at 2:06 pm | Permalink
Cool pic, but I especially loved reading the story that went with it. I love reading how people got where they are.
Amy | 12-Jul-06 at 2:18 pm | Permalink
I think you look a different person for sure. And I guess you pretty much were…
I can plug my nose pretty well so I did OK in the lab but what I hated was the way your hands smelled for days even though you wore gloves (OF COURSE!). The tip they gave us was washing hands with lemon-lime barbasol.
Charmaine | 12-Jul-06 at 2:40 pm | Permalink
A dental student? Wow! I thought about going into nursing, but having to take an anatomy class is what really turns me off from it!
LeS | 12-Jul-06 at 7:58 pm | Permalink
It is so funny to see a COMPLETELY unexpected you in this photo! Goes to show you that we all have so many stories and layers to how we have gotten to where we are.
M.E. Quarles | 12-Jul-06 at 9:55 pm | Permalink
oooh, such a happy picture, yet a bit surreal now that I know where your real talents and love lie. Always good to have a crazy experience or a poor fit in a job to put everything else into clearer focus.
xo, ME
Steph | 12-Jul-06 at 10:06 pm | Permalink
That’s exactly right, Maryellen. I attribute a good portion of my drive to making up for “lost time.”
Tammy | 13-Jul-06 at 6:10 pm | Permalink
You look so happy! I hate going to the dentist, but would love the comfy scrubs 🙂 Great smile!
jenny vorwaller | 20-Jul-06 at 1:42 pm | Permalink
oh steph! this post is great! my family is made up of mouth professionals…dentists, oral surgeons, orthodontists, endodonists..
so i’ve had my share cleaning some surgery tools and i can say that i don’t have that in me either! 🙂 i don’t know how they do it, but i certianly have respect for them that do.
now…where are my lovely paintbrushes? :))))