Page 9 - Dentistry Magazine 2022

Campus Connections 9
Moments from Moos Tower
From orientation to reunions and everything in between, here’s what happened on campus this year.
Give Kids a Smile returned in full force for the first time since 2020 this year. Students and faculty provided services to 96 students on Saturday, February 26, equipping them with the tools for a healthy mouth. Alissa Bares, DDS ’23, reflected on the responsibility of co-chairing the event: “We would be wrong to not acknowledge where the community’s needs are when we leave school. You can learn in textbooks, but this helps us build a perspective on what is needed and how we can help.”
The DDS Class of 2022 Awards Ceremony was held May 12.
Give Kids a Smile returned.
Awards ceremonies
took place for DDS
and Dental Hygiene
graduates in May and
July, respectively. The
DDS Class of 2022
gathered the evening
before their commence-
ment ceremony to honor
the recipients of 57 awards, rec- ognizing achievement and excellence in and outside the classroom. Class president Tommy Chitwood recalled it had been 1,345 days since the group’s White Coat Ceremony. “How have we changed?,” he asked. “We’re a little older, a little wiser, but definitely more resilient. Resilient like an unbreaking tree in the wind. Resilient like the sand that is pummeled by a rolling tide.
Resilient like a series of pontics on a 6 unit
bridge.”
In July, dental hygiene learners
celebrated the con- clusion of their final
summer semester with a ceremony recognizing the
winners of 15 awards. Karl Self, DDS, MBA, Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, shared a few words with attendees on their accomplish- ments. “Success is a combination of hard work, determination and drive,” he said. “You have just completed a rigorous program very successfully. Now it is time to take those efforts and initiatives into your future.”