Miss out on our summer leadership social? Do not worry because Airy Choi, Tufts D’20 and Second Delegate, has written about her experience andrecap of our packed weekend at the Foxwoods Resort for our Summer Leadership Social. Take a look and see what Airy enjoyed from her time at this annual district event.
The ASDA District One Summer Leadership Social was at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut from August 24th to the 26th this year. Having help plan the ASDA District One Summer Leadership Social last year at Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Massachusetts, it was nice to sit back and enjoy the conference as an attendee.
Upon arriving from Boston, the weekend kicked off with a Welcome Reception Social with mingling, light appetizers, and refreshments. It was a great opportun
ity for District 1 attendees to meet each other in a casual setting and get to know each other. After the social, people were welcome to go explore the gigantic resort which I took full opportunity of and did some shopping and eating (Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, hello!) during this tax-free weekend.
The next morning commenced with a welcome speech by Deepa Patel (Tufts ’20), the ASDA District 1 Events Chair, introducing our ASDA District 1 Trustee, Lindsey Janof (Boston ’19). Lindsey talked about what ASDA was and finding your leadership path in dental school. She spoke about her journey within ASDA since day 1 of dental school up until today which was very inspiring; her story shows that there is no cookie cutter leader out there and following your passion and doing things out of your comfort zone, will mold you to be the leader you aspire to be one day.
The next presenter was Kalp Juthani (Tufts ’20), the ADEA District 1 Commissioner, who spoke about what ADEA was and gave us insight into key issues shaping dental education such as the demographics of dental school faculty members which was very eye opening for all of us. These findings/data are all accessible on the ADEA website on PDF and PPT under ADEA Snapshot of Dental Education, so I highly recommend anyone in dental school to check this out whenever they get a chance.
After a mini break, Jeff Longfield, Regional Partner of the Massachusetts area for Pacific Dental, presented about leadership and building a high performing team. It was a very interactive presentation where he asked audience members where they saw themselves in 5 to 10 years; he said that envisioning your goals down to even what kind of car you drive will help you get to your goal faster. Basically, be detailed as possible when it comes to your goals in life. Followed by Jeff’s presentation, Marina Miller, Senior Director of Doctor Recruiting and Relations for Dental Dreams, gave a brief presentation about Dental Dreams and the ins and outs of their company model. The presentations ended with a table session with all of our sponsors for the event in which students had the opportunity to ask sponsors questions and grab some free swag from their tables.
After lunch, Scott Hobart, the Crest Representative, gave us a presentation on what courage means to us and then gave each of the attendees an Oral B genius electric toothbrush which everyone was ecstatic about. Our last presenter was Dr. Howard Zolot, the current Massachusetts Dental Society President, who spoke about the importance of organized dentistry and our involvement in it during our dental school careers as well as post-dental school. The presentations concluded with breakout sessions (Fundraising, Advocacy, Membership, and Wellness) in which attendees chose which one to attend based on their interest. After a long break where attendees changed and enjoyed the amenities of the resort, the day ended with a wonderful evening social at High Rollers, a bowling alley at Foxwoods, sponsored by the generous, Pacific Dental. It was an evening filled with some friendly competition over bowling, billiards, and shuffle board.
The weekend ended a goodbye breakfast and a with lovely closing remarks from Lindsey thanking everyone from District 1 for attending as well as those who’ve helped plan for this amazing weekend. Overall, it was a very successful weekend filled with new friendships, Auntie Anne’s pretzels (for me), ASDA fever, and a drive to push your leadership skills.
ASDA: District 1 