For the first time, Fresno City College is graduating students with a bachelor’s degree. The 29 all-female student body of the dental hygienist bachelor’s program balanced long clinic hours, searching for patients and studying late into the night to become part of a milestone for FCC and themselves.
“It feels so special. It’s such an honor,” Vanessa Cervantes, one of the program’s first graduates, said.
Her fellow cohort member, Nyove Gonzalez, sees this program as something bigger.
“When I’m 30 years older and look back, I can say I was part of a historical moment,” Gonzalez said.
This program is the first within the Allied Health department to get a bachelor’s program.
“I was hoping that, because we’re the first class, that it’ll show other programs that they can do it. I know with our program, it took a long, long time. It was in the works for many years, but I think it brings more out of Fresno City College,” Gonzalez said. “I think it could offer more job opportunities, more confidence. I think it’s great, and it’s at an affordable cost too.”
Students everywhere are committing to colleges and programs right now. One of the typical deciding factors is the cost.
“I looked into SJVC (San Joaquin Valley College) in Visalia, which is a lot closer to me, but they’re charging triple the price,” Cervantes said.
Students described the program as an affordable and accessible option, which makes it one of the best for them. FCC is an affordable option that does not diminish the quality of education, according to Cervantes.
“It opens a lot more doors and opportunities, and it’s at an affordable cost,” Gonzales said.
Prior to going to FCC, Cervantes was a dental assistant, but she looked toward a “move up” in her career. She is a mother of two children and wanted to go to a school that was both affordable and close to home.
When Cervantes originally started school, she took time off to start a family. And when she came back, she was pregnant, and she realized she wasn’t ready to start again.
“My path was a bit longer than usual. I was pregnant. I was going to give birth in the middle of the semester. I was breastfeeding,” Cervantes said. “Once I came back and was fully committed when it was the right time. Everything just clicked into place.”
Cervantes noted that there are other moms in the program, so they all are there to support each other and understand what they are going through. They said their kids aren’t a hindrance but a reminder of their priorities.
“We view our kids as extra motivation, extra push, keeps us grounded,” Cervantes said. “We have something to work towards.”
Part of the program is that students must accumulate clinical hours, meaning time with patients. Both students expressed difficulty in finding patients for those hours, because they have to find them themselves. Sometimes though, the professors will help with this.
Cervantes was given a previous faculty member to work on by her instructors.
“Its like I had a celebrity in my chair. I did not feel nervous. I was so grateful that my instructor had the trust in me to see her,” Cervantes said. “It made me realize all patients should feel like her. Like you’re my priority right now.”
Gonzalez was originally a pre-dental student at Fresno Pacific and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. But between burn-out and self doubt, she realized that becoming a dentist was not right for her.
“I thought, ‘I can’t be a dentist,’” Gonzalez said. “I felt like I was stuck in mud. Everyone was moving forward and I wasn’t.”
She still wanted to work in the field and decided to apply to FCC’s program. Fresno City College admits 30 students for this program per graduating class. Gonzalez applied twice before getting admitted on her third try.
Despite the discouragement she felt from not getting in, she persevered partially because of her grandfather.
“My grandpa was sick and he ended up passing away, and I had a hard time grieving,” Gonzalez said. “His big thing was he wanted me to finish school and my career, my dream.”
The program itself came with its struggles, but the community and relationships that got built between the cohort members made it easier to survive according to Gonzalez.
“They’re not just classmates. They’re people who understand exactly what you’re going through,” Gonzalez said. “No one gets left behind.”
When it came to taking her board exams Gonzalez said she studied for a week straight. While her professors and cohort members were always helpful, students have to take the exam on their own.
“I’ve never done anything this hard before,” Gonzalez said. “Passing my board exams on the first try. That was just me.”
Both women expressed how they couldn’t have done it without the cohort around them.
“No one else understands what you’re going through except the people in it with you,” Cervantes said.
Being the first class of graduates, they paved the way for the future of the program along with the faculty. Gonzalez said that Linh Bui, Jeanice Howard, Fred Thomas and Mimi Myers were a few of the faculty members that stood out and left an impact.
“We’re kind of like guinea pigs in a way. We hold ourselves to a high standard,” Gonzalez said. “They’re [professors of the program] not just like, ‘It’s hard, deal with it.’ They want to help us.”
The program isn’t perfect, they still have to work on improvements and have asked for feedback along the way.
One portion of working in the field is being able to market yourself. This bachelor’s program is setting students up for working in the real world and having classes that helps you learn to do that would be a good addition according to Gonzalez.
“It would be nice to have classes like business or marketing to expand what we can do with our degree,” Gonzalez said. “They prepare us not just for school, but for the real world.”
Gonzalez and Cervantes praised the program and encouraged any person who is thinking about applying to the program to do it.
“Believe in yourself,” Gonzalez said. “You can do anything.”
