tackling six-figure student loan debt

Confession time. As you might have surmised from the title of today's post-we have six figures worth of debt. And every last dime of it is student loans. As it turns out, pursuing higher education for nearly a decade doesn't exactly come cheap. 

Even though we had financial support from our families, each earned more than a $100k in scholarships & free tuition, and worked during school--we still finished with six figures worth of student loan debt. It's not something that I'm ashamed of or embarrassed about. It's just a fact of life. We made a conscious decision to invest in our education and I 100% do not regret it.

Power Couple

Introducing Doctor and Doctor Schneider!

Ok yes, I realize that may sound all kinds of obnoxious. I don't mean for it to be, I'm just proud because the only thing more difficult than earning a doctorate degree is...earning a doctorate degree while your spouse is ALSO earning a doctorate degree-hundreds of miles away in another state. 

GRADUATION DAY

One last graduation post, sharing the actual day because is was a hectic hazy whirlwind. I had two separate graduation ceremonies (yes 2!) to attend all in one day, so it felt a little rushed to get everyone and everything organized. But we did it. 

grad school grad!

 I am so incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support from my family and friends throughout this long journey of achieving my childhood dream. I'm also grateful for the amazing teachers and dentists and staff and mentors and patients that encouraged me along the way. And believe it or not, I'm also grateful to all of you. Yes, you, the person reading this post right now.

I struggled and stumbled along this path more than once, but always found the resilience to keep going, and that is in major part thanks to everyone who supported me, including this online community. It sounds silly, but over the years of blogging, I have made some true friends that are also complete strangers. So to anyone who has been kind enough to read my rants, leave encouraging comments, and even reach out to me directly, thank you for your support. 

friday favorites: 01.11.19 dental edition

Did you ever have a really good work week? Like a great perfect wonderful week. Yea, me either. But this one was pretty darn close. I've been feeling so overwhelmed with life lately so I needed this.

 Being 4 hours away from home makes it pretty difficult to organize my life and my time right now. And checking off all the boxes to get all the things done before graduation in May is terrifying. I can't even. While I've been behind on my favorite hobby, who am I kidding, my only hobby of blogging, I'm making some time to share this incredible week I've had. I still have lots to share from December + the holidays + life, oh and that time we went to Morocco. But for now, here are my favorites from the week. 

a day in the life of a dental student: 1st rotation

I am settled right on into my second set of dental rotations, but tomorrow I'm headed back to my first rotation clinic to finish up a case. So can I just talk about my very 1st dental rotation for a minute? Because it was an amazing milestone in this crazy process that is dental school? 

a NEW year & the LAST term of dental school

happy new year!

 I've had an exhausting 2019 already. We made it back from our trip through Europe & Africa just in time to ring in 2019. 

an "away" rotation for the holidays

Today is the last official day of the semester! Unfortunately, these past few weeks have been just a little bit rough thanks to being on a true away rotation. 

snow day, study day

Hi there! 🙋🏾‍♀️ Just checking in to say that I'm still alive over here since its been a quick minute. When I said that this month would be a busy one, I didn't fully recognize the truth behind that statement. Mostly, I've been juggling between getting settled into my new away clinical rotation and studying for this beast. And today (and yesterday), I find that I have extra time to study...thanks to a snow day. So you can find me around town hauled up in the corners of various coffee shops and cafes...studying all the things. 

part two, round two

Here we go with part 2, round 2 of my dental school boards. Hooray for standardized tests. When I took the entrance exam for dental school, I postponed my exam over and over and over again...until I couldn't anymore. When I finally did take the darn test, I aced it and got multiple offers to dental school. A few years into dental school, when it came time to take the first part of the National Board Dental Exam, I was terrified all over again and certain that I would do horribly. But of course I passed. So when it was time to sit for yet another standardized exam for dental school, I finally convinced myself that it would be fine this time around. I've done this before.  

a day in the life of a dental student: mission trip

Since this week is all about practicing gratitude, I thought that I would share a little more about one of the experiences in my life that I am most thankful for... my Dominican Republic Dental Mission Trip. This mission gave me a chance to combine two of my greatest passions, my desire to serve others through dentistry and my love of travel and experiencing different cultures. 

Each day of our mission trip, we visited a new location. And each day we were greeted by thankful hearts, as evidenced by the fact that the governor gave us his personal bus (featured above) to aid in our transportation. Below, I'm sharing just a glimpse into what a day on this mission trip was like. 

hanging up my dental loupes

How is it not Friday yet? 

Clinic this week has involved an emergency root canal, all the restorations, extractions, dentures, too much SRP for my liking, and treating kiddos. 

starting rotations

How can it be that it's actually here? I finally rode off into the sunset to start my dental rotations. In order to understand how phenomenal this is, I have to explain how they work.

my last month at the dental school

I returned to the dental school yesterday to deliver a few last cases and it felt like a different world. It's hard to believe that I've only been on my away rotations for a little over a week. It got me reminiscing about my crazy hectic productive busy last month at the dental school. 

At a glance, I completed my graduation exam requirements on patients for root canals, emergency dentistry, dentures, assessing outcomes of care, and periodontal (gum) disease. It was a busy busy busy month. To top things off, I finally got to sell off all of my practice models because I only drill on real teeth these days. It was seriously the best feeling E-V-E-R to know that I am capable enough to leave the protection of the dental school and spend the next 7 months rotating through various clinics across the state to gain as much experience as possible with so many different patient populations. Graduation is so close, I can feel it. 

"Dear DXTTR"

Only 1 more day! 

One day until I leave the dental school and embark on 7 months of away rotations. It is beyond gratifying to be at this stage and closing this chapter of dental school. 

that time I wished dental school wasn't cancelled

Dental school is a beast. Truly. I think the hardest part about it is that there never seems to be an end. School from 8AM to 5PM and then you get to spend your evening studying and doing lab-work. Breaks are far and few in between at my dental school, so I’m always thankful for a minute to myself. 

drowning in dentures

Be careful what you wish for. For months, I was feeling upset that I hadn't yet had the opportunity to fabricate any dentures for patients. I was really starting to get worried about it because at my dental school, dentures are one of those procedures that slows people down with being able to graduate. 

PASSED!

I’ve been waiting and hoping to share this post for months. 

medical dental mission trip

Nothing fuels the heart or feeds the soul quite like helping others, which is why I couldn't be more excited to announce that I'm headed off on a medical dental mission trip to the Dominican Republic! 

tooth be told...I love my patients

Last week, I didn't have a single lunch break. With being on an emergency dental rotation, I ended up seeing patients straight through. The cranky hungry side of me wanted to do nothing but complain. And I won't lie, I may have whined a little. But at the end of it all, I'll skip lunch any day because I love what I do, I love why I do it, and I love my patients. It's the only way that I am able be at dental school right now, making so many sacrifices---far beyond missing a few lunches.