I'VE GRADUATED!

It has been eight days since I've been conferred the degree and title, Doctor of Dental Medicine. This means that I may now answer to Dr. Corine; however, being that I've yet to be licensed, I'm still not eligible to exercise the duties and responsibilities of a dentist, as stipulated by the Constitution of the Philippines, specifically RA 9484. Still, by virtue of actually getting the degree, I am a doctor.

I thought that by waiting eight days, I'd come up with more insightful (or even dramatic), that would probably make everybody cry or something, but oh my goodness, I'm beat.

I'd like to think that I'm still at the so-called Honeymoon Stage with the fact that I've already graduated. I know how stupid this sounds, but last night, I seriously took a good look at my diploma, and thought, "Happy weeksary, my love."-- almost as if it were my boyfriend! -- I mean, seriously, who does that? To my defense though, there really are no words to describe the hell that Dentistry students go through just to get that diploma. It was definitely not a walk in the park! Knowing then about all the difficulties I've been made aware of, would I still choose Dentistry if I had to start all over again? Honestly, maybe not. Maybe. Things would have been easier if I had taken a different path that didn't involve spending so much money on dental stuff, literally balancing mentally-demanding didactics and physically-demanding clinics, and chasing patients (sometimes going to their houses just to ask them to come back to the clinic). Yes, things would have been so much easier if I did not take Dentistry, but things also would have been so much less fulfilling.

I have so many words to describe the difficulties involved in being a Dentistry student, but they're reduced to nothing, compared to the joy that no words could even begin to describe. If there's one chapter in my life that would epitomize happiness being worth all the pain, that chapter that involved Dentistry.

On the day of our graduation, my batchmate, Dr. Bhea, said something along the lines of, "Once it's done, you'll forget all the hardships". Oh yes, that was very true.

For me, the #roadtoamnesia actually started the moment I claimed my graduation toga. This was actually the second issued toga for this graduation season, because our togas weren't ready right away for the Baccalaureate Mass, so we had to borrow those of a different university. When our actual togas came, that's when it actually sunk in. It was then I understood why so many people take pictures with their fresh-from-the-rental-house togas, still sealed in their plastic bags. I can't explain it, but it somehow represented finality, and just knowing. There was just a special something in holding my three-striped toga in my arms, and knowing that it was finally going to happen.

The graduation ceremony wasn't a very long one. I don't mean to perpetuate the very elitist mentality of allied health courses boasting superiority above everyone else, but it was quite meaningful to be in the same graduation ceremony group as the other students from the allied health courses. In choosing health-related fields, this automatically gave all of us something in common with each other, in spite of never having met each other-- and this is none other than the desire to help people have a better quality of life that would eventually lead to them living longer.

Oh by the way, I'm part of the batch that not only broke the record of most number of UPHSD College of Dentistry graduated in one school year-- but actually doubled it. We had two October 2017 (but considering completion month, it was actually December) graduates, and twelve March 2018 (but considering that I had to take a few exams in early April, I think it's more accurate to say eleven March and one April) graduates, leading to a grand total of fourteen graduates for SY 2017-2018. While I'm really proud of being part of the record-breaking batch, my hopes and dreams are really that the next batches would update the record, and aim for 15.. 16.. 17.. and many more! ..but of course, the secret to being part of any graduating batch, record-breaking or not, is to actually hang on. It doesn't matter how many semesters of extension we incur, the important thing is that we power through all the difficulties and continue chasing what we believe is meant for us. Take it from me, I was also an extendee.;) Well, that's it (for now).

#graduation #UPHSDDentistry #Dentistry #UPHSD