Natalie Armstrong

Dental Assisting 

My experience as a career technical student first began in August of 2015. I was an upcoming junior leaving Madeira High School. I had a passion for cosmetology and was eager to get a head start. Although college was the route a majority of my friends took, I knew a four-year college would not be the right fit for me.

Choosing a different route than my peers was scary, to say the least.  However, having the support of my family gave me the confidence to go for it. My dad was most understanding because he had also attended Scarlet Oaks when he was younger.

For the next three years, I began working in my field as a cosmetologist. I worked in a salon using my skills, creating connections with other stylists and clients. As the day-to-day life continued, I began to lose my passion as a stylist and realized it wasn’t the job I dreamed of. I began to think of the other opportunities that could be available to me.

I started researching and found myself back to the place I knew so well. My experience at Great Oaks had been great, to say the least, and I knew if I decided to start another trade I would want to attend there. After much research I was drawn to the Dental Assisting program, a field I had never thought I would find myself in. My experience at Great Oaks as an adult has been beyond impactful. I’m building new connections and using skills I have previously learned from my past trade to help me as a future Dental Assistant.

Helping clients or patients feel comfortable in a certain environment is a skill that I have picked up as well as communicating with clients and staff. Currently, in class we are beginning to learn how to schedule patients; this is a skill I have been practicing the past four years in a salon setting. This is just one of the skills from my past career that has given me a head start and the confidence that I will now bring into the current trade I am studying.

There are many options to choose from when deciding where to attend school; however, I believe that going to a career technical school has more benefits. It has not only brought so many wonderful opportunities to me, but it has brought me a nice job that I am using to help pay for school, as well as helped to introduce me to an abundant group of incredible people. I am excited to continue my trade to become a Dental Assistant.