MY VIEW


Harnessing the Power from Within Middle School Dropout Overcomes Mental Challenges to Become a Dentist


by TRENT FINLEY, DDS S


ince the young age of 11, I wandered into strange paths with no direc- tion. Even though I had two working parents, my home was financially unstable, and understanding my purpose was difficult. This was compounded as the middle child who felt overshadowed by my older brother, who was naturally talented in bas- ketball, and a little brother who was known to many as the angel child. It was hard for me to find myself.


Soon after my eleventh birthday, I began to dabble in things that, at the time, I felt were normal experiences for an upcoming teenager. From drugs and alcohol to gangs and guns, I seemed to be set for a life of de- struction. Finally, at the age of 15, I began to realize the rocky path I was on. My parents’ divorce around this time woke me up. Al- though I didn’t realize it then, going through it was one of the most painful experiences of my life, as I suddenly watched my family fall apart. The divorce caused a wave of unfortu- nate 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 finances to make our monthly expenses. This financial instability and frequent relocating made it difficult for me to concentrate on schooling. At 16, having failed to complete my eighth-grade year for the second time due to a sudden move to San Diego, I was forced to drop out of school as it became impossible to gain our legal residence there.


That struggling period lasted a little less than four months and we were headed back to New Mexico. This was the turning point where I began my path of self-reliance.


I was tired of the life I was living and knew a change was needed to make things better.


24 focus | SEP/OCT 2021 | ISSUE 5


Months later, I decided to get my GED to fulfill a requirement to allow myself to go on a church service mission to the north- ern states of Honduras. It was here that I would spend two years of my life away from family and friends, while my efforts were focused 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 environ- ment to fabricate 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 in dentistry.


At the end of my mission returning to the states became difficult. While I had spent months saving Honduran currency to have enough to make it when I returned, to my surprise, upon converting my Honduran cash to U.S. dollars near the end of my service, I had only $20 to my name, a suitcase full


of clothes, and a handbag of scriptures and faith. Fortunately, I was able to make it back to the states due to a benevolent family I had never met that heard of my situation and wanted to help. That same family in Utah made it possible for me to prepare for and take the ACT in two short months, which obtained my admittance into Brigham Young University in Idaho, the school that cultivat- ed my love for learning. After just six months of attending, I met a girl who believed in me and who I admired deeply. We married four months later.


After completing my Associates degree from the University, we moved to Missouri where I worked full time while concurrently attend- ing school full time to make ends meet and fulfill the requirements to get into dental school.


I decided to apply one year earlier than originally anticipated. This required me to set vigorous goals—studying 12 hours a day, six days a week, for six months to prepare


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