Page 25 - Dentistry Magazine 2021

FINDING HER FIT IN DENTAL THERAPY
Sometimes all it takes are a few encouraging words to alter the trajectory of a young person’s life. For Jackie Callaway-Campbell, BSDH ’20, MDT ’21, it was the words of a manager where she worked as a dental assistant in New Castle, Delaware.
A conversation with a supervisor introduced her to the emerging field of dental therapy, and a program she could attend 1,200 miles away in Minnesota.
“I decided I wanted to go further in dentistry,” said Callaway-Campbell, who graduated with her Master of Dental Therapy in 2021. “I was drawn to the public health field and liked different aspects of dental hygiene and dentistry. So when I learned about dental therapy, it sounded like a perfect fit for me.”
Though a great fit, the path was not simple for Callaway- Campbell. Juggling work and school proved difficult—but she was never alone.
“I cherish my classmates,” she said. “They became my support system.” In addition, the support of a scholarship from the delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation helped her succeed and focus on her studies. “Once I got the scholarship, I spent more time working on my skills and got to know my classmates,” she explained. “It made me a better student, which will make me a better provider.”
For Callaway-Campbell, the decision to move across the country for such a young field was not taken lightly—but she has not looked back once. “The people you meet, the experiences you get and the career opportunities you gain are so worth it.”
Connecting two generations of women
in dental hygiene
Amanda Abbott’s first day of college was her first day in a big city, her first day of classroom education and her first time away from her family for an extended amount of time. But the BSDH ’21 graduate made the leap, moving away from the small town where she was homeschooled with her eleven siblings.
“If I learned anything from growing up in a household of 14, I learned that determination and hard work can get you places,” she said. And in Abbott’s case, that was true.
Abbott is the recipient of the Gordon and Marie Hackborn Dental Hygiene Scholarship, instituted by Richard Hackborn and Joan Hoover, BSDH ’59, in honor of their parents who fully funded Hoover’s dental hygiene degree at a time when a young woman’s college education was not guaranteed.
“Our parents were fantastic,” Hoover recalled, explaining why she and her brother set up the scholarship fund. “They totally funded my education, so this is in honor of them.”
For Abbott, the scholarship was a chance to focus on her studies and prepare for her future as a dental hygienist, where she can “make a positive impact on a community, one person at a time.”
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