Reaching for the Power Within A Dentist's Journey of Overcoming Mental Challenges as a Middle School Dropout

Since a home kid with the with young no two direction. working age of 11, Coming parents, I wandered understanding from a into financially strange my unstable paths purpose as

was difficult to come by. Growing up as the middle child and being overshadowed by my older brother who was naturally talented in the art of basketball and a little brother who was known to many as the "angel child," it was hard for me to find myself.

Soon after my 11th birthday, I began to dabble in things that I felt, at the time, were normal experiences for an upcoming teenager. From drugs and alcohol to gangs and guns, I was set for a life of destruction.

It wasn't until I reached the age of 15 that I started to realize the rocky path that I was on. My parents divorce around this time was what "woke me up." Although I didn't realize it at the time, going through this moment became one of the most painful experiences of my life as I suddenly watched my family fall apart. The divorce caused a wave of unfortunate events including moving across three states with my mom and little brother to more than 10 different houses in a two year period due to failure to pay rent or lacking the finances to make our monthly expenses. This financial instability and frivolous relocating made it difficult for a child at my age to concentrate on schooling. At the age of 16, having failed

to complete my eighth grade year for the second time due to a sudden move to California, I was forced to drop out of school as it became impossible to gain our legal residence there.

Struggling through a little less than four months in San Diego, we set ourselves back to New Mexico where I began my path of selfreliance. I knew that I was tired of this life I was living and that a change needed to come, in order to make things better.

Months later, I decided to get my GED in order to fulfill a requirement to allow myself to go on a church service mission to the northern states of Honduras. It was here that I would spend two years of my life apart from my family and friends and I focused my efforts entirely on helping people with their religious convictions and serving the needy in the areas I was assigned. This mission was monumental in creating a positive environment that fabricated a mindset of success. It was during my time in Honduras that I grew a passion for dentistry as I served as translator for a medical brigade. Watching the dentists who selflessly served and gave new smiles to the people I had grown to love brought me a path to a new life: a life of dentistry.

At the end of my mission, which was graciously funded by many church members that supported me, making it back to the United States became difficult. Just after two months of arriving in Hon-

Soon after my 11th birthday, I began to dabble in things that I felt, at the time, were normal experiences for an upcoming teenager. From drugs and alcohol to gangs and guns, I was set for a life of destruction.

information duras, I found out through email that my mother was homeless

to pass exams and make it from one class to the and that my belongings that were placed in storage were gone due

next, while also participating and serving in multiple leadership to non-payment. Luckily, I had spent many months prior saving

roles for various student organizations and church volunteer posiHonduran currency to prepare to have enough to make it when I

tions—it all seemed impossible and overbearing. Yet, after all that returned. To my surprise, however, after converting my Honduran

I had been through, I made it. cash to U.S dollars near the end of my service there, I had only $20 to my name with nothing more than a suitcase full of church

Whether you have been through the negative effects of divorced clothes and a handbag of scriptures and faith. Fortunately, I was

parents, experienced financial hardships, or had been through able to make it back to the states because a family—who I had

years of tremendous setbacks like I had, we all have it in us to not met—heard of my situation and wanted to help. That family

overcome the challenges of our past to set forth a path of success. in Utah made it possible for me to prepare and take the ACT in

But how do we do it? We hear about these stories all the time two short months and obtain admittance into the school that

but what is the mechanism in which we can use and apply it into cultivated my love for learning: Brigham Young University-Idaho.

our personal and professional lives? I believe there are three main After just six months of attending, I met a girl that believed in me

principles that I have used to accomplish success and overcome and that I admired deeply. We married four months later.

whatever challenge that comes our way.

After completing my Associates degree from the University, we

From seeing my older brother move out to follow his basketball moved to Missouri where I worked full time, while concurrently

dreams, to witnessing the pain of two parents' futures become attending school full time, to make ends meet and also fulfill the

uncertain, I was forced to act, and act quickly, to avoid a similar requirements set out for me to get into dental school. For many

lifestyle. of us dentists, this road is hard and something of which we don't wish to relive or remember.

POINT 1LET YOUR PAST BECOME A STRENGTH My particular path to dental school was unique by deciding to

When talking to my older brother on the phone after an interview apply one year earlier than originally anticipated. This required

at an AEGD residency program, I mentioned that I felt inadme to set vigorous goals that required me to study for 12 hours a

equate compared to many of the other applicants because of their day, six days a week for six months to prepare myself to take the

vastly different upbringing and traditional lifestyles that I always Dental Admissions Test. Having taken just one biology course

wish I had growing up. His response is something that I have and one chemistry course prior to taking this admissions exam,

embraced and tried to live by that has caused me to refocus my I taught myself subjects such as general and organic chemistry,

vision. He said, "Trent, stop looking at your past as a crutch. Use anatomy and physiology, physics, basic and complex math, and

your past experience as a strength. You have been through things had to improve my fourth grade reading level through many difmany have never and will never go through. You have conquered ferent exercises.

many challenges. Embrace them and use them to prove to yourself and to others that nothing is impossible." I finally made it to dental school but my path of challenges was not over. With three kids, I spent many days juggling studies,

Ever since that day, I have become more and more comfortable family, and church duties. Most of my days and nights were

with embracing my unique upbringing to inspire others. Life is accomplished with less than four hours of sleep. The challenges

not easy. Going through these first few years of starting my career of comprehending and retaining the overwhelming amount of

as a dentist has been anything but natural and comfortable. But

POINT 3STAY TEACHABLE This last principle is key among those that wish to learn and grow. Take it from one of the greatest motivational leaders of all time, Tony Robbins. Robbins says that "progress equals happiness. While achievements and material things may excite you for the moment, the only thing that’s going to make you happy longterm is knowing that you’re making progress." Since I was young, I always tried to recognize that I knew very little and have always strived to learn and grow from people I admire most. This attitude stayed with me throughout dental school as I realized that even though I may have been a top notch student in college among my peers, by entering into a professional program where the "cream of the crop" resided, I quickly felt inadequate and not good enough. This kept me hungry, however, to learn and grow to achieve the same level of skill and confidence my dental peers had. Even upon graduating from dental school and my recently completed general practice residency, I have come to the realization of how little I actually know, compared to the vast amount of increasing knowledge there is to learn from. But, unlike my mindset of depression I had in the past, where such a realization would have put me in a state of feeling overwhelmed, causing me to shut down and give up, it now has become the primary motivator behind my reason to continue to educate myself and improve my skills every single day.

CONCLUSION Life is difficult. For many of us, it becomes a constant challenge just to get up in the morning and put on our clothes. Realizing that we are not alone in this journey of becoming good clinicians has helped me tremendously as I have struggled with feelings of inadequacy and failure. By using the mistakes and failures you have made in your past, always striving to improve yourself, and staying teachable, you can find happiness and peace in your life. Like many of you, I wear many hats—the hat of a father, a clinician, a church member, a husband, and a friend. I have felt the pain that comes from feeling overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy and failure. But as we chart our progress, we can easily look back, as I have, and discover how far we have come in this journey we call life. And by doing so, we can find value in ourselves and inspire others along the way.

when we look back at our lives during trying times and see what we already have accomplished or conquered, we then will soon realize that what challenges await us are minor speed bumps along the path to success that will turn us into who we were meant to become.

POINT 2ALWAYS TRY TO GET BETTER Ever since I was a teenager, I found that I have been inspired by the many stories of people that came from nothing and accomplished their dreams through hard work and perseverance. Among those I admire most is the one and only, Kobe Bryant. This star athlete made a task of becoming the best basketball player he could be into a set lifestyle. He would say that, "I wanted to be one of the best basketball players to ever play and anything else that was outside of that lane, I didn't have time for." He focused his whole life on a lifestyle mindset that he coined, called the "Mamba Mentality." It means to be able to constantly try to be the best version of yourself. That is something that is a commonality among all the major athletes, superstars, and tech gurus. They look at every day as a blessing and another opportunity to push their limits and achieve their goals.

This mentality has been key to me as a child who battled major depression for many years. As a teenager with no set vision, thoughts of suicide and worthlessness often flooded my mind and caused a whirlwind of emotions, which resulted in making bad choices. It wasn't until I entered the path of Christian discipleship that I started understanding my own personal value and what kind of influence I could have on others by changing the path my life was heading. By setting my vision and mission to become the best version of myself, I have blinders on that keep me from competing with anybody else and comparing myself with others. This vision helps me to challenge myself to constantly improve. With this goal always in my mind, I have found peace as I have discovered my strengths and my personal value as a young kid who came from nothing and made a life for myself, my wife, and three wonderful children.

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