Studying for the DAT can be one of the scariest points in your academic career thus far. I started studying for the DAT for the first time in June of 2017. I studied for over 8 hours every day and saw very little progress. I allowed fear for this exam to defeat me before even entering the examination room on September 5, 2017. On exam day I was drained and completely lacked confidence in myself, I did poorly on the exam. I allowed negativity to block my studying and hinder me on test day. Nonetheless I still decide
d to apply to dental school with the score I earned. Ultimately, I was unsuccessful in my efforts to begin dental school.
Though I was unsuccessful in my dental school efforts, I was given the opportunity by Meharry Medical College to do a one year masters program. Meharry’s masters program at this time gave students the opportunity to earn a masters while guiding their medical and or dental school dreams. I readily accepted the offer to be apart of this program. I didn’t know what to expect from this program, I jumped in head first and for a while was drowning. The program was much more difficult than I expected. However, with help from my professors, classmates, mentors, and tutors I was able to successfully meet my GPA requirements of a 3.0 in this program. Additionally, I was able to meet the DAT requirement of a 17. I believe my success was only possible because I stopped allowing fear to hinder my success and trusted in myself and God. Today, I can proudly say I am a first year dental student at Meharry Medical College, something most people including myself didn’t believe I could do. All in all the moral of my short story is hard work beats talent every time.