This week, I had the pleasure to speak with Sean about his involvement on campus, and some of the challenges and joys that came with starting the Pre-Dental club here.
1. What year and program are you in?
I am currently in my second year and I am majoring in Biomedical Sciences. I am looking into minoring in medical physiology, a new minor that will be effective Fall 2017.
2. What inspired you to start the Pre-Dental club here?
What inspired me to start Pre-Dental Club here at the University of Waterloo was my first time at club’s day in my first year. I went to the club fair with my friends and saw that there were so many clubs and so many opportunities to get involved in. The only thing I did not see was a Pre-Dental club. There was literally every medical profession EXCEPT dentistry. So during the summer when first year was over, I took advantage of this and read up on how to start a club through Feds.
Another inspiration I have to thank is my father. My father went to the University of Waterloo for his undergraduate studies and then to Western for dentistry. He is now a local dentist in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Having him as my role model pushes me everyday to complete my own goal of becoming a dentist, so one of the main reasons why I even started this club in the first place was because of my long time interest in dentistry.
3. What are your responsibilities as President of the Pre-Dental club?
As President of Pre-Dental Club, I pretty much maintain the club and have my executive members/vice presidents to help make things run smoothly. I have to think of creative ideas that are dentistry-related that our club can do for general meetings or events, also with the help of other executive members or even general members that give ideas. The first term of the club I had to get together with the vice presidents to make presentations for applying to dental school and gather information about the DAT to present to our members. All the decisions that are made in the club must be approved by at least 2/3 of our presidential members. I also have meetings with the executive members and discussion important topics or future plans with them, where everyone is allowed to contribute and come up with ideas. The biggest responsibility I have is that doing my best to ensure that every member in the club, including the executives, get something out of it Whether that is learning something new about dentistry, including them in dentistry-related events, or pushing them towards their goal of becoming a dentist.
The Club Logo
4. What are your goals for the club?
First let me tell you a bit about Pre-Dental Club’s first term. Since this was the first term of Pre-Dental Club in many years due to its inactivity, it was not easy to make sure everything ran smoothly. Luckily, I had a good executive team to help me make Pre-Dental Club possible in Fall 2016. Since we did not have a budget, it was hard to do events in the first term of this club running, so we focused on general information about dentistry. This included information on the Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) and how to apply to dental schools in Canada as well as some dental schools in the United States. We also got a dentist from Campus Dental to give a lecture on his journey throughout his undergrad, dental school, and post dental school. On social media, we made a Facebook page where we post club meetings, club events, deals on DAT prep books, and other general information on dentistry. This term one of our executive members also made our official club logo and eventually we put that logo on our club’s official apparel towards the end of the term.
The University of Waterloo Pre-Dental Club provides support for students who are interested in pursuing a career in the field of dentistry. This includes information regarding admission requirements for dental schools across Canada, the application procedure, DAT strategies and general discussions about dentistry and alternatives. In addition, special events such as guest speakers, social events, and community impacts are scheduled throughout the term.
In Winter 2017, I have decided to focus more on events rather than general meetings so we can have our members interacting more with each other and getting a feel for what dentistry will be like. Through Career Action, we have set up a Dental School Interview Workshop which will be held March 1 where members will get to experience what the interview process will be like once they get accepted by a dental school. We have also contacted the University of Toronto’s Pre- Dental Club to try and get a tour sometime in March. Another event that we will be hosting is Oral Health Awareness week where we will have members set up at a booth in the SLC to promote oral health throughout the week and students can win prizes such as toothbrushes, floss, etc. Also, last term we had our members go out to Bomber for Trivia Night which was really fun and helped the members get to know each other more. I am hoping to do more of this and expand it to off campus events such as bowling or movie night with the Pre-Dents!
I am hoping to run this club until I graduate. While focusing on school, I am setting goals for this club and know that each term it will get better and better until I have to hand off the President position to the next leader of this club. My personal goal for this club is to prepare the next President so they do not have to feel like they have to start from scratch like I did. For the next terms to come, I know for a fact that this club will improve. Once we have a steady budget we can use some of the club’s funds to buy things like practice soap kits for the manual dexterity test (a section in the DAT) where we will have a lecture on how to excel in this portion of the DAT and let members try it out for practice. I also want to buy a DAT resources such as Kaplan, CliffsAP Biology, and much more for members to sign out for the term and use it to study for their DAT examination because these books can get quite costly. There is also a DAT generator where there is endless amounts of questions on the perceptual ability section of the DAT, which is one of the most important parts of the DAT. I want to buy a subscription and let members use it to help them with their studies. For events, I want to have more guest speakers so members can get perspectives from dentists and dental specialists on what the job is really like. School tours to University of Toronto and/or Western University that are already set up each term is also a must, and will be greatly focussed on. The club is also going to get its own website (we are currently working on it!) where we will be posting pictures of events, information on the DAT and specific dental schools (ex. requirements for each school, how to apply), and much more. There is much more that I have planned out, but I do not want to spoil all of it and I promise that it will be worth the wait.
Now the ultimate goal…well, that would be to make a dental school through the University of Waterloo. We have pharmacy and optometry, so why not dentistry! Maybe one day.
5. What else have you been involved with on campus?
I’ve been involved in a few things on campus, but throughout the next two years of my undergrad I am aiming at doing much more. In highschool I was not really involved in clubs or team sports. But after making a club in my second year of University, I realized that being involved in the school can be amusing and rewarding.
In Fall 2016, I decided to try being a TA, so I applied for BIOL 130L and got the position. It was a great opportunity as I got to experience teaching a class of 30 students with another TA and get experience on marking. It also helped me build some skills such as presentation skills, responsibility, organization and commitment (waking up at 630 on a Friday to go to a 730 meeting…really showed commitment). I really enjoyed being a TA and I am definitely going to TA more courses throughout my undergraduate degree.
Recently, I just started in a muscle physiology lab as an undergraduate voluntary research assistant. Here is a little description about the research we do:
“We study the sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase or Ca2+ pump (SERCA pump) in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), which, together with other important SR proteins, make up the membrane system that regulates calcium inside the muscle cells of our bodies. Through the release and re-uptake of Ca2+ within muscle cells, this membrane system regulates muscle contraction and relaxation, respectively. Without this important Ca2+ regulatory system, there would be no movement and no heartbeat”
Fall 2017, I am going to be a science orientation leader! Can’t wait to meet new first year students and help them feel welcomed in Waterloo Science.
During my next two years I want to get involved in much more. I’ve realized that whenever there is an opportunity, take it, because you never know what good it will do until you try it. I am hoping to be a tutor for BIOL 240 in my third year as I really enjoyed this course and I would like to try being an Off-Campus Don at some point as I have been in the Kitchener-Waterloo area my whole life so having an impact on helping first years feel comfortable in this city and on campus is something I really look forward to doing.
The Pre-Dental Club at Trivia Night
6. What do you like to do in your spare time?
I think it has come to the point where spare time is pretty much non-existent, since I mostly do school work in my spare time. During the school year I have a part time job at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada where I am in the welding department (in the summer I work full-time there). Around 5-7 days a week I go to Fuzion Fitness in Cambridge to workout with my buddy. I’ve been working out since around Grade 11, and although it can be challenging to go during midterm and final season, I try my best to hit the weights every day of the week. Working out is a huge stress reliever where you can just put in music, listen to your favourite song, and forget about school for once. It also can be pretty rewarding when you see results come in. My two favourite sports are hockey and golf. I joined intramural hockey here at Waterloo and play on the ponds with my friends in the winter. On weekends I like to go clubbing with my friends where I can enjoy a few beers after a long week of school. I also spend time catching up on my favourite fitness YouTubers such as Bradley Martyn and Christian Guzman. Every Sunday, I watch a new episode of my favourite TV show ever, the Walking Dead, with my family. I’m a geek when it comes to that show – I even collect the comic books!
7. What do you plan to do after you graduate?
After I graduate, I plan on going to Dental school. That has been my dream ever since I was little. My father went to the University of Waterloo for his undergraduate degree and went to Western University for Dental school. I plan on following his footsteps and I am blessed to have my own father as a mentor throughout this journey. If all goes well, I am hoping to specialize in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, and open up my own practice in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
8. What advice, if any, would you give your first-year self?
I think that the biggest piece of advice I would have given my first-year self, or to other first-years is that you need to get involved and be open to trying new things. Most of us have four years of being an undergraduate student and let me tell you, those four years will fly by. While you are here at the University of Waterloo (or at another university), make the best of it. Get involved on campus, join a club, make a club, become a TA, play your favourite sport through intramurals, do anything that you desire, because getting involved leads to great opportunities and builds your character. The worst thing that I see myself doing at times or even others do is they do not proceed with something because they do not want to be judged or they are scared of failure. Sure, not everyone will believe in you, not everything will run perfectly the first time, but if you have an idea…an innovation…then do the best of your capabilities to make it happen.
Thank you so much Sean, and if you want more information on the Pre-Dental club, visit their Facebook page!