My graduation ceremony was approaching. That moment alone was very meaningful to me. I spent my entire high school preparing for the entrance exam. I never went out to parties or to dance, which is something adolescents usually do, and people thought I was weird because I only thought about studying. It was difficult to pass the entrance test and only God knows what I went through to finish my degree in Dentistry. At the time I joined, the course was still very elitist and inaccessible to those with financial vulnerability, as was my case. Several times when I was sitting with my colleagues, I heard them say that low-income students would be responsible for lowering the quality of the course. I swallowed hard and kept quiet each time because, without knowing it, I was the low-income person they were referring to.
So I decided that no, I would not be responsible for lowering the quality of my course, and yes, I would fight with all my strength to get out of there trained as a great dental surgeon. I was always very dedicated and studious, and I knew from an early age what kind of professional I wanted to be. I knew that I would serve people with humanity and empathy, regardless of their social status. I must say that throughout my course I dedicated myself a lot. There were periods when I had an anxiety crisis because I thought that without the support of my family, I would not be able to move forward. I feared the exams, feared I was not good enough. There were days when I left the lab and went to the library to study until 10 pm, closing time. I would come home so tired that sometimes I would sleep with my shoes on my feet. On some weekends I would come home from work at dawn and a few hours later I would have class again. And my summer vacations I spent working to save money to buy the clinical classes supplies.
There were several nights I spent studying. I would see the last light in the building opposite mine go out and the first windows light up again early the next morning. Throughout this process, I was belittled by some professors, and encouraged by others, who were proud of my trajectory. I managed to convince my mother to come to my graduation. You will not believe it, but I won the student honor with the highest GPA in the entire class! I know that my effort and the quality of my learning are not necessarily measured by my grades, but I must say that my mother and Axe were very proud of me. And my daughter too, because she was very active, having a party in my womb that day!
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