04/22/2026
This one hit different.
Receiving this medal at the AACD conference this week felt like a full-circle moment I honestly wasn’t sure would ever come.
My first AACD meeting
I was 2011 in Boston — I was a resident, completely wide-eyed, staring at smile transformations I didn’t even know were possible. I remember thinking… people actually do this? This is real dentistry?
I kept coming back year after year. Not because I had it figured out, but because I wanted to. Slowly, something shifted. The work got better. The belief got louder.
It didn’t happen overnight. But it happened. 🤍
So grateful to be part of this incredible class, and endlessly thankful to the mentors who saw something in me before I fully saw it in myself. You know who you are.