An important choice for the future.

It was my last semester in the program of Natural Sciences at the Cegep de Thetford. It was, time to decide what I was going to do for my future. I was very nervous about what the future holds for me. I started registering for different programs.

Choice 1 : Register at the University of Laval.

Choice 2 : Register at the University of Trois-Rivieres.

Choice 3 : Register at Cegep Garneau.

Register at the University of Laval.

I was grateful to have been accepted into dentistry at the University of Laval. Though, I was told that it is a very difficult program that was maddening for many previous students. It was hard to have good time management through work and homework. So, I had to decide if I work during my years of study or if I need to apply for loads.

Choice 1 : Work during my years of study.

Choice 2 : Apply for loads.

Register at the University of Trois-Rivieres.

I finished my program to be a kinesiologist at the University of Trois-Rivieres. It was a three to four-year program. We learned about the injury and rehabilitation of muscles, bones, and joints. We were trained to offer physical activity services. Now that I have finished my Baccalaureate, I have the choice to continue in a postgraduate specialization the athletic therapy or to start working in a clinic of kinesiologist.

Choice 1 : A postgraduate specialization the athletic therapy.

Choice 2 : Work in a clinic of kinesiologist.

Register at Cegep Garneau.

I started studying at cegep Garneau. I really liked the dental hygiene program, and everything was going well. I finished the planned internships. I then entered the job market. Being a trainee could help me decided if I really liked this job or if I didn't like it by allowing me to know the ins-and-outs. I had the choice to have an on-the-job-training in Quebec or Thetford Mines.

Choice 1 : On-the-job-training in Quebec.

Choice 2 : On-the-job-training in Thetford Mines.

Work during my years of study.

I started to work approximately 15 to 20 hours a week, to help me pay my monthly payments. This is 15 to 20 hours less, that I had to devote to my studies. I had difficulty in the majority of my class and I did not know if I was going to succeed in completing the remaining years of study. This was a big drawback. I did not longer have time to do activities with work and study, but I wanted to have fun. I had to decide if, I was going out, or I stayed home studying for my exam this week.

Choice 1 : Go out.

Choice 2 : Stays home studying.

Apply for loads.

I had received a lot of loans which allowed me to concentrate on my studies. All my time was spent studying, which allowed me to get my works back on time and to be well-prepared for my exams. This allowed me to get straight A's in the majority of my class. Thanks to this I got the opportunity to do clinical internships or laboratories research internships.

Choice 1 : Clinical internships.

Choice 2 : Laboratories research internship.

Clinical internships.

Doing a clinical internship helped me to learn the rope of the job. This comes in handy to know the advantage and inconvenient of being a dentist. One of the downsides that made me question the most, was how afraid, clients are of dentists, especially children. This put me in doubt about my choice of career, should I quit or should I continue by trying to stay calm and professional when it happens.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Choice 2 : Continue by adapting to the disadvantages.

Laboratories research internship.

I was an intern for research of a new treatment of oral cancer. I absolutely hated working in this dental health field. I felt overwhelm with all the work we had to do to find treatment possibilities and how we had to think of every little detail of all the solutions. So, I decided to change career.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

On-the-job-training in Quebec.

When I looked for a vacant position in a clinic in Quebec, I needed to past interviews with Human Resources. I was hired in a clinic where I needed to work with other Dental Hygienist with a patient. However, I did not get along well with my new colleagues.They made me feel really bad in this career. Even the HR could not solve this problem. So, I decided to choose another path.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

On-the-job-training in Thetford Mines.

I started my-on-the-job-training at Thetford Mines. During this time, I lived closer to my family, this encouraged me to stay. I was trained in a little dental clinic with an already established clientele. Even if, I liked to work there it was a dead-end job, because I would only replace employees. A vacant position was not really offer. So, I needed to find another clinic or stay there with minimum of hours.

Choice 1 : Find a vacant position in another clinic.

Choice 2 : Stay in a part-time position.

A postgraduate specialization the athletic therapy.

During my studies in this field, I had to do some internships with athletes. As a therapist, I needed to help them reach a maximum potential at different levels of physical activity. However, when I was showing a patient a movement, I caused myself a severe strain on my knee. I could not continue working in this career out of shame.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Work in a clinic of kinesiologist.

After a year, working in this Kinesiologist Clinic I found out that some colleagues were doing corruption. They were stealing some files of other professionals to harm their work. They changed the rehabilitation programs of their client. Thus, these would ask to be transferred to another kinesiologist. I found it very selfish, but this is ingrained in this domain. So, I decided to change career.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Go out.

I went out all night, had fun, and it took the pressure off me. After that, I studied all night long for the exam the next day. However, it made me so tired that I was late for the exam and on top of that I had a blank memory. I didn't pull of a good grades. I was fired from my program.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Stays home studying.

I studied all night for the exam. I was well-prepared. I got straight A's in the tests. This helped me to graduate in dentistry. I was immediately hired in a dental centers. Unfortunately, the most senior dentist started to misconduct by flirting with me. I had the choice to kept silent, or I spoke to HR about it.

Choice 1 : Keep silence.

Choice 2 : Speak to the HR.

Continue by adapting to the disadvantages.

I continued working as a dentist, even if, I didn't like when clients were scared of me. However, one day had made it unbearable, a small child could not stop screaming and crying, and this made me furious. I got so mad at him, that it made me quit this career.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Find a vacant position in another clinic.

I applied to several clinics and to these one I was reminded the benefits, the compensation and the wage didn't please me. After a few months, of research I did not find anything that suited me.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Stay in a part-time position.

By working part-time, I didn't earn enough to save to have a mortgage for the house I wanted to buy. It was going to take me a few years longer than expected to reach my goal.I was then discouraged.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Keep silence.

I decided to keep silence because I was deter he will stop. He didn't stop misconducting. I suffered sexual harassment. This made me want to change job.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Speak to the HR.

I told the HR the situation. He realized that this employee was a perpetrator because it wasn't the first time he had complaints about him. He fired the senior dentist, and he asked me to take his position. I didn't know if I wanted to increase position or if I changed my field of work because this situation made me very uncomfortable.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.

Choice 2 : Increase position.

Increase position.

I took the job of the senior dentists. But he already had a lot of years of experience and had a lot of clients. Finding myself in all of his files caused me a burn out. I couldn't take care of the clients correctly. I decided that what was best for me is to take a break and change career.

Choice 1 : An important choice for the future.