Dental School Dropout...no one wants their teeth done by a slob!!!

I am still getting a lot of questions about my dental school withdrawal, and many people are starting to form their own stories so I figure I had better set the record straighter. I don’t mean to offend anyone who has chosen dentistry as their profession. I surely could have continued my education and been perfectly happy as a dentist. Everything changed when I decided to defer my acceptance one year to build the storage units. They became my primary investment monetarily and time wise instead of dental school. I was unsure about entering school up until the last minute. I decided to go with the idea that I would be enhancing my education and providing a secure back up plan to the storage units.
I enjoyed the rigorous schedule for the most part. I got to commute back and forth on my bullet bike, and I liked having to discipline my time management so much. It keeps you humble to be putting in that many hours. I stayed up for 62 consecutive hours once studying. However, academically dental school turned out to be disappointing to me. I expected to take my understanding to the next level and learn the principles governing science. Instead it was mass memorization that everyone forgot 5 minutes after the test. I was willing to just grin and bear it, but it was hard to be doing a bad job at everything because I didn’t have the time. I started becoming uncertain about my dental future and spent a lot of time on my knees. Cassie and the kids were very supportive, and were doing a good job holding down the fort. But there were a lot of things not being done. I felt like I was doing a bad job in almost every responsibility.
I didn't really know what to do until I was driving home from church one day. I was thinking about what I was going to say at an upcoming speaking assignment and a bunch of good stuff just fell straight into my lap. Then, the Spirit seemed to say, “by the way, you should be a clinical psychologist.” I didn’t really know much about the profession, so I did a bunch of research. Everything I read about it I loved, and it felt like a better fit for me. I searched for the right program. After attending 5 different undergrad colleges and experiencing transfer grief every time I decided on Walden University out of Baltimore Maryland. They have a PhD program where you can do a lot of the coursework online, then fly out for required visits. The program is 5 years, but I should be able to take a few more classes and finish it in 3.5 years. The degree will be in clinical psychology with an emphasis in health psychology. I will be able to do a lot of different things. I can have my own private practice, teach at a University, do research or work at a hospital. It definitely opens doors for authoring books and/or politics.
I’ve got 3 weeks left in my first quarter, and I have really enjoyed it so far. It is really nice to stay home and run the storage units right making sure that no creeps come in to bother my wife. I do my coursework whenever I can find the time. Looking back I can clearly see this is the direction I should have gone from the beginning. I home taught a clinical psychologist, grew up next door to a counselor, and had a friend whose dad was a c.p. God gets you to where He wants no matter what path we try to take. I can’t even begin to count how many blessings Dad gave me where he would tell me to keep an open mind.
So there you have it. More than just the Readers Digest version.