Posted on February 22, 2020
Community Connections
I was able to interview Anastasia Talalenko. She is a Dental Medicine student at NSU in Florida graduating this year. She does so many things every day as she is always practicing and learning for when she finishes school. On social media I’ve seen her doing root canals, crowns, and many other procedures. I have also seen some opportunities she has had because of her training such as 
going on trips to give free dental care in Jamaica. I chose to speak to her because I would like to become a dentist and I am aware of the incredibly challenging school work that comes along with it and I wanted to talk to someone who has been through it herself. Based on her images on social media she seemed like such a positive and kind person (which she was!) When I found her online I knew I wanted to talk to her because she seemed like she really was passionate about her job, and wasn’t afraid to share the struggles of becoming a dentist.
Why are you passionate about your job? — “Everyday in my profession I get to help people. And I get to do it in an artistic and creative way. Every patient and problem is a different type of challenge that you get to solve. I’m also passionate about this profession because most people hate the dentist and I would like to help to ease their fears or doubts.”
Obstacles have you faced to get where you are today? —”The toughest obstacle is the education process to get to the end goal of being a dentist. In undergrad you constantly doubt yourself on if you’ll get the best grades to get into dental school. Once you’re in dental school you balance about 30 credits a semester, which the workload alone can be challenging and sometimes depressing when you’re studying so much.”
What advice would you pass on to somebody interested in doing what you are doing? —”My biggest advice is your own personal finances and what goals you want to achieve in your life. I always knew I wanted to become a dentist, but I never really thought about the financial expense to get there because no one really talks about it. Tuition for dental schools are on average 50K a year and that’s just tuition alone. Schools don’t talk about the instruments you have to rent from them every semester as well as personal expenses both in school and at home. Most students graduate with 350k of debt after 4 years of dental school and it’s not an easy number to just ignore. If you are considering dentistry or medicine, the cost is so important to consider and to figure out if healthcare professions is truly your passion.”
What made you decide to peruse this job? —”My mother was a dentist as well and growing up around her I saw how well the profession treated her and how passionate she was about it. I told myself at around 10 years old I wanted to be a dentist and I stuck with it and worked for it all of these years.”
What motivated you through the hardest parts of the process to get to where you are today? —”My motivation was always the long term goal. When you’re stuck studying in the library or writing a lab report up until midnight, you have to remind yourself that what you are going through is temporary. There’s always an end goal and you have to remind yourself there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Would you encourage others to peruse your job as well? — “Honestly, I’m not sure. I love what I do and I knew what the job was about since I was young. But I see a lot of my colleagues end up hating dentistry and become so negative about the profession. For many reasons, but mostly because of the high debt they end up with. It’s a tough job as is, and it makes it harder when you’re paying of thousands of dollars a month just to balance your student loans. I need to work a couple years to be sure I can recommend it to someone else :)”
I learned so much about the process of becoming a dentist through this interview! It really connected to me because I was aware of the struggles but never really thought of the specifics. I always knew that the workload was hard, but this opened my eyes to the financial struggles that education comes with, that I had known but never really thought more about. Even though I now know a few more struggles it doesn’t push me away from this job that I would love to have one day. I believe that you should have to work for everything, and that hard work will pay off one day no matter how impossible it seems in the moment. I now know what keeps Anastasia motivated and I have heard from so many other types of doctors as well that have all told me not to think about the years because overall it goes by so fast. To see some more things she has been working on her social media is a great place to find her! I wouldn’t say any new opportunities came from this interview for me but it did make me think more about the specifics of the process to become a dentist. 
Pictures: All pictures are from Anastasia Talalenko’s social media besides one
- https://www.instagram.com/russian_anastasia/
- “Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine CE Department.” Facebook, www.facebook.com/pg/NSUCDMCE/posts/.
Thank you for submitting your Community Connection assignment for COL. We have reviewed your Edublog post, and have the following observations regarding your work:
– Great job interviewing someone and seeking out information regarding their expertise
– Way to incorporate your answers on your edublog
– Thanks for going the extra mile on this assignment. This is a great example of a connection!
Thank you,
Mr. Barazzuol and Mr. Robinson
COL Teachers