By Christopher Cruz
There is so much to learn outside the classroom setting in dental school. In my humble opinion, getting involved, making connections, and continuing to master your craft is more important than just trying to get perfect marks in all your courses. It is natural to stress about grades, but it is also important to realize there is so much more outside of dentistry than just getting good grades. I'd also say that learning to only compare yourself to yourself instead of others is pivotal for self improvement and good mental health. When we compare ourselves to others it leads to one of two things: pride or envy. When you compare yourself to others, you're either going to think, "I'm doing better than them", and you get full of pride, or "They're doing better than me," and you get full of envy, which neither are ideal ways to conduct yourself. Furthermore, envy occurs when you do not really know someone well. You can see a persons strengths and weaknesses from a distance, but it's only when you get up close that you see their hurts, hang-ups and habits.