DCG High School Senior Sophia Bauman is our most recent Senior Spotlight. Sophia is a school-to-work intern and future dental hygienist.
Sophia traded her pencil for a scaler as she went out into the real workplace at Walnut Hills Pediatric Dentistry Office.
“She’s really good about asking questions, knows what to do without asking, I feel like she’s really into what she’s doing,” said Sophia’s boss, Tanya Foster.
When Sophia first arrived as an intern she had many tasks to complete such as taking courses, reading, and watching videos all about teeth safety and health, which allowed her to have a much more successful internship.
“I’ve learned so much, especially just about the statistics and science behind teeth,” said Sophia.
As time progressed Sophia started getting more and more responsibilities; things like sterilizing equipment and tools, cleaning patients’ teeth, and helping with paperwork were all part of her daily day-to-day assignments. All this hands-on work allowed Sophia to build and form connections with patients.
“My favorite part is when a scared little kid comes in and is just like petrified of even getting even their teeth clean and once they’re done they are so happy and you feel like you’ve accomplished something with helping them clean their teeth and getting over that,” said Sophia.
Sophia gives many thanks to the dentist at Walnut Hills Pediatric for their constant guidance and willingness to teach.
“The doctors are very informative. As they are working on patients in operations, they will explain everything they are doing in the ops [operations] to me,” said Sophia.
So what is next for Sophia Bauman after high school? She will be going to the University of South Dakota to study dental hygiene with a minor in sales. But before she goes Tanya Foster wants to leave her with one last piece of advice to remember for her future in dentistry.
“I think just like taking everything with grace, learning what you can. I feel like it’s a lot of school so not to get stressed out but it is worth it in the end, as long as you are passionate about it and you really just keep caring about people,” said Foster.
Sophia Bauman is our first Class of 2025 Senior Spotlight. The Senior Spotlight Series is produced by Neela Williamson, a school-to-work intern in the DCG Communications Department.