When you were a child, everything that was familiar was contained within the walls of your home. Then as you got older that familiarity grew to include your immediate neighborhood. As you continued to grow, so did your world. Going to college, traveling and meeting people from a variety of backgrounds, is all about continually redefining yourself in new and greater contexts.
However, as you get deeper into adulthood and become established in a profession, your world starts to shrink again.
You find yourself surrounded by the same people, challenges and issues, day after day. Most of what is familiar in life is once again contained within a few walls.
That's why I think it's so important for dentists who already work in relative isolation, to reverse the process of this "shrinking world" phenomenon to engage with a diverse and challenging community of dentists. This is one of the things I find most gratifying when I look at the dentists that come to the Spear Campus. They come from different backgrounds and all kinds of practices, from communities big and small. These dentists all have one thing in common: They are growing. They have made the choice not to be stifled by routine and settle for good enough – and it shows in their energy. Their worlds are continuing to expand and that makes a person feel more alive.