Member Spotlight: Addison Wright
This week’s Member Spotlight is Addison Wright! He is a senior Pre-Dent student who will be heading to the Texas A&M College of Dentistry in Dallas after finishing his time at Baylor. Read on to hear more about his experience in AED, get some great advice, and be inspired by one of your fellow AED members!
Addison is a Health Science Studies major with minors in Biology and Business Administration. He joined AED in the Spring of 2020 during his sophomore year and was the New Member Class Social Chair for that semester. He became interested in AED from a few upperclassmen who introduced him to the dedicated Pre-Health community and fun atmosphere of AED. He was excited to join a community that shared the common goal of being motivated Pre-Health students. AED is unique in highlighting and connecting students from all of the different Pre-Health path options, including students from Pre-Dent, Pre-Med, Pre-Vet, and many other tracks. Outside of academics, Addison likes to travel, work out, skate, play intramurals with friends, and pitch for the Club Baseball team. You may also recognize him from ASDA, where he enjoys serving on the executive board and volunteering.
Addison shared that his favorite part of being an AED member is “the love that all my fellow members have for healthcare and how we all grow and push each other to succeed”. As an organization, AED’s goal is to foster a community of dedicated students that are always inspiring and encouraging each other. He also shared, “I would advise current AED members to get very involved in whatever they do and go after their passions. As the New Member Class Social Chair, I had a lot of fun and it was a great way to meet a lot of people. Run for an executive position, serve the community, do your best in school, and make as many friends in college as possible!”
As he continues on his academic path, Addison’s goal is to own a successful dental practice. Beyond that, he is striving to be able to go on at least one mission trip per year and serve as a leader in his community. As he continues to work towards those goals, Addison has been able to get a glimpse into his future career through his involvement in the Health Science Competitive Internship during the summer of 2021. As an intern, he rotated through 6 different specialties over the course of 6 weeks. Looking back on his experience he mentioned, “This allowed me to see every aspect of dentistry from oral surgery to orthodontics to pediatrics. All the doctors were extremely knowledgeable in their field and helped me learn so much about the profession, whether that was clinically or how to run a dental practice. I was able to see some surgeries that I had never seen shadowing such as a phrenectomy, gum graft, and impacted wisdom teeth”. No matter what field you want to go into, internships are a great way to gain experience, become a competitive applicant to schools, and discover your passions. This was true for Addison who also commented, “This internship furthered my love for the dental field and showed me so many ways that we can help people as healthcare providers.”
AED loves highlighting members like Addison who make AED as amazing as it is. Stay tuned for next week’s blog with an exciting new interview that you won’t want to miss!
Written by Jasmine Hartman Budnik