In-person start for new class
Gisele Lopez, first-year dental hygiene student, unpacks her instruments during orientation.
Campus livened up Aug. 9 with the arrival of 136 incoming dental and dental hygiene students at Texas A&M University College of Dentistry. The usual social activities were tempered a bit as these newly minted professional students gathered, in person, for their orientation.
Nonetheless, they received a warm Texas A&M welcome bright and early on Monday morning with breakfast provided by the dental school’s Office of Student Affairs followed by greetings from the office’s Director Kimberley Morgan-Thompson and Associate Dean Dr. Ernie Lacy.
Dr. Ernie Lacy greets the incoming students on their first day.
“It was great to see all of the fresh, eager faces, in person,” says Dr. Lynne Opperman, the college’s interim dean. “I told them that as professionals and professionals-to-be, we must be vigilant in doing all we can to stay healthy and help keep others healthy, so that we can make their professional school experience as ’normal’ and positive as possible.”
Opperman, along with Caruth School of Dental Hygiene Executive Director Leigh Ann Wyatt and College of Dentistry Alumni Association President-elect Dr. Julie Stelly, provided welcoming remarks as well as words of advice as they greeted the students on their first day.
Stelly emphasized, “You are on this journey together and will leave this place as friends. Take advantage of your friendships; they will flourish and impact your life forever.”
Fourth-year dental student Akeira “Cookie” Warner shares information with a new student during the student organization fair.
One way entering students will make those connections is through joining activities with their classmates. A student organization fair presented by current students helped them explore the many options available.
Now that these newest classes have received their ID badges, instruments, lockers, clinical team assignments, and an introduction to the college’s services, protocol and policies, they are equipped to start the semester. They’re even sporting a new lunch box courtesy of the Alumni Association.
