ASDA District 11 Meeting - Jessica Chiang ( ‘21)
You’re in the hub of it all, Los Angeles, the home of the biggest celebs, glam and glitz, and the 2018 District 11 meeting! Dental schools all across California were able to come visit us and get a snippet of the UCLA Dental School campus, and nonetheless, we were extremely excited to see our comrades.
Let me first start off by introducing myself. Hello! My name is Jessica Chiang and I am one of the co-chairs for the ASDA Pre-Dental Committee. This year at the District 11 meeting, my co-chair Leah Andriasian and I had the privilege to give presentations to pre-dentals in “How to Choose the Right Dental School”. This experience was such a surreal experience, especially since it felt like just yesterday that we were all pre-dentals wondering if we would get into dental school.
Leah and I gave a lot of tips and factors pre-dental students should consider when choosing a school for them, which a couple of the factors being cost, location, opportunities, and much more. Usually being a frequent dental conference attendee, it was a humbling experience to be on the presenter end this time around. Pre-dentals from all over California attended this conference and had the option to attend other seminar topics related to getting into dental school. After our presentation, many of the pre-dentals asked great questions about the application process. Leah and I were amazed with the questions they asked and felt inspired and motivated to continue our mission in helping pre-dentals in any way that we could.
After speaking to a room filled with pre-dentals, Leah and I assisted setting up at the vendor fair, and volunteered to represent UCLA Dental School at the admissions booth. As we handed out flyers to prospective pre-dental students, I will not forget the moment when a student visited to tell me how the advice she was given from my dental Instagram and that day ASDA’s presentation inspired her to apply and get a research position she wanted! I was beyond happy for her and knew that I will always continue my commitment to students trying to pursue dentistry.
After a fun day at the conference, dental students attended the social held at the Mr. C Hotel where delicious appetizers and drinks were served. I was able to make new friends and catch up with my friends who attended other schools. It was an exciting weekend filled with great food, company, inspirational words, and a chance to unite the dental schools all across California. Thank you to the District 11 board for working hard to organize this conference and being incredibly engaging to all the students! I can’t wait for next year’s conference!
