Design by Rebecca Li & Rachel Utomo, CDM Class of 2024
Quarantine Chronicles ft. CDM 2024............................................................. BLM T-Shirt Contest Winners........................................................................... 5K for a Cause: Supporting the Black Transgender Community...... Investing as a Graduate Student...................................................................... Fever Week!................................................................................................................. Looking Fa-BOO-lous! CDM Celebrates Halloween............................... ASDA Advocates...................................................................................................... Meet the Staff............................................................................................................
Photo credits to Creative Commons
Photo credits to Creative Commons
This year has been unlike any other in CDM history- with many students still studying from home, in person gatherings continuing to be limited, and still not having the Columbia gym open! Despite this, the CDM community has come together and found new ways to stay engaged and connected with one another. For this issue of the ASDA newsletter, we wanted to highlight some of the creative events that have allowed us to continue fostering a sense of community along with student stories of how they have been spending their time in quarantine. We hope that everyone enjoys getting to see a flashback of your favorite events of this semester! I want to thank Eileen for spearheading the work on this issue of the newsletter, and Gayeong and Mark for their writing contributions. Special thanks to Rebecca and Rachel for helping to design an amazing cover! If anyone is interested in contributing to the newsletter in the future, please reach out to me. We are all incredibly proud of the work that has gone into this newsletter and of our CDM family for preserving a sense of community in the face of unprecedented circumstances.
Find out how the pandemic and quarantine affected the incoming D1 students and what they did in their extra time.
Content Collection by Gayeong Lee Design by Eileen Zheng
Due to many changes made because of the pandemic, the role of the orientation leaders became quite different. Nick Arroyo and Caroline Greco, CDM Class of 2023, who were orientation leaders for the Class of 2024, shared how they responded to COVID-19. Since the Class of 2024 won’t be officially seeing each other in the beginning of the semester, the administration and the orientation leaders had been thinking of ways to get the class interacting with each other earlier than a typical class would. The Class of 2024 had a Zoom social in June where the class played Bingo and Trivia, and another Zoom social was planned in August. Welcoming Snapchat, which traditionally had been updated exclusively by rising D2s who wanted to share their daily routines at Columbia, was also opened to the class of 2024 in an effort to give them more opportunities to get to know each other better. Another change is that Arroyo and Greco’s jobs as orientation leaders extended beyond the orientation week unlike previous years. They stayed in the Class of 2024 GroupMe to make sure D1s are adjusting well to the curriculum and continuing to interact with each other. Arroyo and Grego have been trying to bring everyone together as much as they can in this difficult situation, but they truly appreciate how the Class of 2024 has been very open and receptive to the changes.
Jessica Hwang took a gap year before entering dental school, so her experiences during COVID-19 was mostly a continuation of what she did during her gap year. Hwang worked at a solo practice in Westchester for 10 months. Her plan was to travel or work at a different practice before starting school, but she hasn’t been able to due to COVID-19. However, she found an opportunity to assist an Endodontist @her_holiness_the_pulp while looking at her instagram story and decided to give it a shot. She was concerned about starting a short term job just before dental school, but thankfully, she was able to find someone who was receptive to students in her position. Like many others in her class, Hwang said she feels a mix of emotions regarding the school. She is disappointed to learn that her first year experiences as a dental student will be taken away but also excited to start dental school. Hwang is taking steps to get involved despite the difficulties, including moving to Washington Heights this fall with two other D1s, hoping to find a community with her classmates.
Julia Balia went back to her home in Chicago after the pandemic started. There were a
couple of exciting events for Balia this year. During the graduation party, her boyfriend took her by surprise and proposed to her,
Chris Fugina graduated a semester early and worked as a dental assistant during the gap semester. After the pandemic started, he had to quit work, which made this the first summer in years that he did not work. Instead, Fugina has been enjoying a hobby he had since freshman year of high school: surfing. Fugina is currently in Long Island, and he is planning on moving into the city with two other D1s once the semester starts. He hopes that D1s will get in Zoom study groups and help each other out. Even though there will be several changes made to the curriculum, such as postponement of anatomy lab, he tries to keep a positive and open-minded attitude.
which turned the graduation party into an
engagement party. This year, she plans on
staying in Washington D.C. with her fiancé
Ari Rosen picked up a couple of hobbies that he could enjoy while he was home because of the pandemic. He played golf with his brother, which was a good way to practice social distancing and spend time with the family. He also started cooking a lot since he had more time to spend at home. Rosen admitted that it was hard to find an environment where he could concentrate and focus on schoolwork when he was taking classes online in college, and he believes that this will be a big challenge when he starts dental school virtually.
rather than moving to Washington Heights. She also went to Hilton Head resort for 2
weeks (as pictured), which was a perfect break from the pandemic. Balia said what’s
particularly hard for her about the school
starting virtually is the fact that there is no
White Coat Ceremony, having witnessed the
White Coat Ceremony of her older sister who is currently a student at CDM. She remains
hopeful that there will be an in-person White Coat Ceremony for this year’s incoming class once the pandemic settles down.
Winners of the ASDA BLM T-Shirt Contest share the inspiration behind their designs and the messages they hoped to convey. Content Collection // Design by Eileen Zheng
"When huge issues like police brutality and institutionalized racism take the national stage in such an explicit manner, it becomes easy to feel powerless and overwhelmed. As ASDA President, I knew issuing a statement should only serve as the stepping stone to more meaningful action. I contacted the Presidents of CDM’s affinity student organizations, and we worked together in developing ways that would support and promote conversations from within our school, as well as at a national level. The BLM Design Competition accomplished both things, and I am indescribably proud of our student community! ASDA will continue to hold itself accountable by promoting wellness even if it means having uncomfortable conversations, and continue serving our student and patient communities regardless of race, income, gender identity, sexuality, or socioeconomic status." Sebastian Celis, CDM ASDA President, Class of 2022
"I wanted to draw a piece that was simple and drew attention to the names of people that have been killed by the police. I started with Emmett Till because I felt like people in my generation think “oh that was so long ago” and I wanted to show how this has been a long progression/history of discrimination and violence towards black men. It was important to me that the design was something that had a clear message and people could see or understand from afar. I reached out to some people before submitting it and got some feedback for things they thought should be tweaked and that was valuable input as well. I'm really glad people liked it and I hope that people will continue to advocate for BLM and continue to donate." Nikita Chintalapudi, CDM Class of 2022 "When Sebastian [Celis], Alyssa [Patterson] and I were brainstorming fundraising ideas, we all thought a T-Shirt competition was a great way to get everyone involved. At first, I was hesitant about submitting a design even though drawing is one of my favorite things to do lately. As one of the fundraiser organizers, I wanted to do my best to encourage others to participate while also taking care of event logistics. As I continued to personally educate myself on the BLM movement I was so inspired by many artists and their powerful creations on social media. I immediately grabbed my iPad and started expressing some of my ideas and feelings on Procreate. My original design changed quickly over time. At first it was a more complex design and I wanted to include a CDM reference but as time passed it didn’t feel like the right fit. It became clear to me that I wanted to have a bold and strong statement that didn’t deviate or overpower the main message. I included a sign that read “Black Lives Matter” carried by two guys and a girl. It’s a design that I hope people will feel proud to wear and more importantly proud to support the BLM movement." Carlos Galvez, CDM Class of 2022
Photo credits to Creative Commons
Liz Crowe, CDM Class of 2023 and Wellness Committee Co-Chair, reflects on ASDA's virtual 5K and shares tips on planning a successful virtual race. Content Collection // Design by Eileen Zheng "ASDA’s Virtual 5K was a collaboration between the ASDA Wellness and Community Service [committees]. Planning the event, we hoped to not only encourage people to get outdoors and active, but to also ensure that important social justice issues remained at the heart of our efforts. We began planning the fundraiser in June during Pride Month and the eruption of racial justice and police reform movements around the country. With this in mind, we decided that the 5K would benefit The Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective, a collaborative operation that distributes funds across five organizations supporting Black trans folk with services such as bail funds, safe travel, gender affirmation surgery, rent assistance, and food security. We planned the event for August in order to facilitate sustained support for these movements, and offer students a much needed Zoom break. In addition to the $10 registration fee, we encouraged runners to fundraise through social media “Bingo” donation boards. In order to incentivize this additional fundraising, those who participated were entered to win a CDM reusable water bottle. The day of the race, runners submitted photos of themselves and/or their fitness watches to document their participation, and tagged @CDMASDA in their social media stories. Ultimately, we had about 30 runners participate, and raised over $500 for BTFA Collective. We are really proud of the event, and so grateful for everyone who participated!" Liz Crowe, CDM Class of 2023 Pictured: Rachel Brooke, Racheal Long, Maddie Daily & Alexandria Farrell, CDM Class of 2022 (Above) Cori Chan (Below Left) & Liz Crowe (Below Right), CDM Class of 2023
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Interested in bettering your fiances in dental school? Mark Henin and Blake Holt, CDM Class of 2022, share their opinions based on advice from financial experts. Content by Mark Henin // Design by Eileen Zheng
This is not financial advice, this is for speculative and informative purposes only, there are risks associated with investing and past investment performance is not a guarantee or predictor of future investment performance. Financial freedom is undeniably important and the question of investing while in grad school is one that crosses the mind of many students. Ultimately each student’s individual circumstances will govern their final decisions, but more education and insight from people that have been in the same situation can be helpful to make the most informed decision. As humans we typically practice risk aversion – a behavior to avoid uncertainty. However, I would invite you to consider the words of Clinical Psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson, who says, “To not make a decision has a cost and sometimes the cost of not making a decision is greater than the cost of making a decision …you’re screwed no matter what you do and that frees you.” Essentially, by understanding that there is always risk associated to any decision or nondecision, uncertainty is lowered from the equation, which is that it is certain that your decision has risk, therefore you are no longer bound by riskaversion or more importantly, the fear of making mistakes. For the purpose of this article we will use “simple & sound” investing strategies, such as buy and hold for our reference point. Practically speaking, with a minimal financial or economic education, most investors will gravitate towards real estate,
ETFs and Mutual Funds, which for example, the S&P 500 ($SPY) has averaged an annual return of about 10% year over year. This can be done in a personal account or through a savings plan such as a 401k. It’s also important to note that inflation increases at 2% on average per year and can contribute to devaluing the cash you have stored in your checking account or hidden safely between your mattress. However, the glaring question is still the same: should I invest or not?
also require N years of “informal” business training to, for example, run a private practice. Even choosing to devote your time to family or spiritualitymay be considered an investment requiring additional education. Radio show host and businessman Dave Ramsey says, “What you concentrate on is what you win at...don’t try to do six things at once and do none of them well.” Classically, Dave is referring to investing while also in debt. He says that it would be better to pay off your debt first, even if you are currently yielding a higher return in investments, then refocus back on investing. This is done because in the short term, your (for example) 10% return in $SPY is not guaranteed, while your 6.67% interest rate on your graduate plus loan is guaranteed. So for the long term investor, its advisable to get out of debt first.
On this topic, Dr. David Maslach, a research professor of entrepreneurship and business strategy, says, “Think about the returns you would receive investing in yourself versus investing in the stock market.” As it stands your degree is likely your most valuable monetary investment. Knowing this, investing in SketchyMedical or Boards&Beyond becomes a higher yielding investment than placing that same money into $SPY. Are you currently in debt? Do you have the time / time management Also on this topic, current Board skills required so that investing will Certified General Surgeon Dr. Buck not take away from your degree Parker says, “Each investment progress? What type of lifestyle do requires another level of education. you want? What type of person do If you’re going to start picking your you want to become? Finally, should own stocks or flipping houses, then you invest or not? There is an infinite you have to put a lot of time and amount of factors that influence energy into those things ..which is these decisions, hopefully this article removed from the thing you’ve been has given you a greater awareness of working on this whole time, which is some of them. Ultimately, you're still medicine.” Everything you do requires screwed either way, so please just do an extra level of education weather something! you realize it or not. An Oral Surgeon requires 4-6 more years of formal training, while a GPR although will require 1 year of formal training, will
ASDA Fever Week is an annual event hosted by every ASDA chapter that aims to introduce the mission, purpose, activities, and benefits of ASDA to new dental students. Each day, a different committee hosts an event that is representative of what they have to offer. We asked committee chairs who planned this year’s fever week to share what their events were like.
“For ASDA Fever Week, Lunch and Learn hosted a talk from GSK about enamel erosion. We learned how it occurs, prevention strategies, and management once it is detected! This month [October], we’re planning to have a presentation either about leadership or business/finances." Alisha Sahu, CDM Class of 2023
Content Collection by Gayeong Lee // Design by Eileen Zheng
Pictured: Colleen Proietto & Clay Sheffield (Above), Nolan Wendling (Below), CDM Class of 2023
"'ASDA Legislative Kickoff’ was our introductory meeting about the people and politics of dental legislation. We introduced key topics related to dental policy on a national level - such as barriers to care, student debt, licensure reform, midlevel providers, the opioid crisis as well as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. We highlighted the many ways that students can become involved with dental advocacy both in-person and virtually. Our committee is excited to team up with other dental schools around the country to help advocate for our future profession as students!” Ali Lemkuil, CDM Class of 2022
"Clam chowder is such a comforting food that it seemed so fitting to be ASDA’s first cooking class dish to welcome new ASDA members. As one of the Fundraising chairs, my committee and I dabble in food-related fundraisers. (Though they are not usually healthy enough to be endorsed by Wellness haha.) Be on the look out for homemade bake sales as the weather gets colder!” Chewy Xiao, CDM Class of 2022
“The ASDA Community Service Committee had the opportunity to host a virtual Oral Health Instruction (OHI) Workshop to provide the first year dental students with tips on how to give proper OHI. Many clubs at CDM, including the Community Service Committee, frequently host OHI events throughout the year, but oftentimes first year dental students feel that they lack the proper technique and terminology to educate others on oral hygiene. We felt that ASDA Fever Week would be the perfect opportunity to provide them with this skill set while also giving them the chance to learn more about the ASDA Community Service Committee. We hope everyone can make it to our next event!” Maura Lynch, CDM Class of 2023
“Scavenger Hunt was a fun outside socially distanced event to bring people together. I made a list of things to find around the Washington heights neighborhood. Each team had 3 people and we were all competing to finish the list first! Some things we hope to do in the future include a big/little happy hour, bake and sip, and trivia night!” Renee Eisenberg, CDM Class of 2023 Pictured: Maddie Auvinen & Lotte Martin, CDM Class of 2023
Pictured: Caroline Puskas & Katie Gauch, CDM Class of 2023, Contest Winners
Pictured: Tim Daudelin, Anjali Dave, Marlena Adamczyk, & Deanna Noble CDM Class of 2021
Content Collection // Design by Eileen Zheng
Quarantine can't take away the spirit of Halloween! CDM celebrates safely with a socially distanced costume contest.
Pictured: Michelle Skelton, CDM Class of 2022
Pictured: Liz Crowe, CDM Class of 2023
To promote conversation about dental advocacy, Thursday's event involved free coffee with key dental policy issues attached to the cups.
To encourage members to sign up for ASDA action alerts, the legislative committee set up tables with donuts at the Farmer's Market.
Advocacy Committee Chairs Ali Lemkuil and Michelle Kim, CDM Classes of 2022 & 2023, organize a week of events for ASDA members to learn about dental legislation and policy.
Content Collection by Nikita Chintalapudi & Gayeong Lee // Design by Eileen Zheng
Pictured: Grant Schinbeckler & Alex Gordon, CDM Class of 2023
Pictured: John Matthews, Alyssa Hanel, Ryan Foree, Alex Besmer, Carlos Galvez, Abeer Eltemtamy, & Abby May, CDM Class of 2022
Thank you Nikita, Gayeong, Mark, Rebecca, and Rachel for making this newsletter possible, and thank you Columbia ASDA members for all your contributions and giving our newsletter a read! Eileen Zheng Editorial Chair CDM Class of 2023
Gayeong Lee D2 Staff CDM Class of 2023
Mark Henin D3 Staff CDM Class of 2022
Rebecca Li D1 Staff CDM Class of 2024
Rachel Utomo D1 Staff CDM Class of 2024