Ali Tavasoli first realized he wanted to become a dentist while working at a student-run clinic at University of California Davis and helping the underserved community in the Sacramento area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to see how, even though we think we are living in a land of opportunity, not everyone has that equal access to that opportunity, whether it\u2019s in oral health or in general,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Originally from Iran, Ali moved to the United States about six years ago and got his bachelor\u2019s degree in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior. He chose to get his master\u2019s degree in Oral Health Sciences at BU because of the positive feedback he heard from family and friends about the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone told me how people are like a second family here,\u201d he explained. \u201cThat\u2019s what attracted me the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ali began the master\u2019s program in 2018 and completed it in one year. He said that the OHS program at GMS not only helped him improve his academic record for dental school, but taught him critical techniques for studying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned how to learn, and that\u2019s the most important thing. I didn\u2019t know that I didn\u2019t have an organized way of studying until I started this program. People were so kind and willing to help, and for the first time I was attracted to studying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He noted that students in the OHS program have a lot going on, so it\u2019s essential to maintain mental health – his favorite way to do so is by going on morning runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the most important thing is just to keep up something on the side,\u201d he explained. \u201cI like to run, it\u2019s a beautiful neighborhood and everyone loves to run here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ali will attend dental school at BU next year and is eager to go out and work somewhere that allows him to give back to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cBU GMS is the most amazing thing that ever happened to me. It was a turning point and changed me as a person, and the way I actually look at my future,\u201d he said. \u201cWhatever I have is because this country gave me the opportunity to be here to study, and I honestly want to give back because I feel like everyone needs that second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ali Tavasoli first realized he wanted to become a dentist while working at a student-run clinic at University of California Davis and helping the underserved community in the Sacramento area. \u201cI got to see how, even though we think we are living in a land of opportunity, not everyone has that equal access to that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16373,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54,7215,7074,1534],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67847"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67847"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67850,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67847\/revisions\/67850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}