Shared Dream Reunites Childhood Friends

Orientation is a time to make new friends. But among the crowd of new faces, Brianna Rozell recognized a familiar one. Across from her was Mehnoor Khan, a friend from her hometown in Staten Island. The two had attended elementary school and high school together. Their paths yet again crossed at dental school.

“I didn't know that she was going to be in the class,” said Rozell. Khan added: “It was a really cute, special moment to be reunited in this way.”

Both Rozell and Khan had discovered an early love for dentistry and worked towards that common goal sometimes alongside one another other times from a distance.

Khan was introduced to the profession through her pediatric dentist. When she got braces in middle school, spending a lot of time with her orthodontist reaffirmed her interest in the field. “Dentistry for me has just always been a calling since I was little,” she said.

Rozell had a similar story, where she became interested through her experience with her dentist. She recalls being interested in all the new tools and terminology around her. But what really drove her to pursue this was her desire to make people like her brother, who are afraid of dentists, overcome their fears and feel comfortable. “When I become a dentist, I want to implement more empathy and compassion into whatever practice I go into,” said Rozell.

Determined their career paths, the duo enrolled in the dental assisting program at Tottenville High School. They learned things like making casts, taking impressions, doing sutures on a banana, and injecting oranges. “I just completely fell in love with dentistry,” said Khan. So did Rozell. The two were also part of the predental club that Khan started. They met with other like-minded students and raised money for cleft palate surgeries.

Then came time for college. Khan stayed in Staten Island and Rozell went to New Haven, Connecticut. But their paths connected again at RSDM.

“Rutgers was my absolutely dream school,” said Khan. When she came in for her interview, she felt that she was in the right place for her. She saw how students and faculty had mutual respect and treated each other like family. “That was something that I didn't really see at other schools,” she said. She had heard about the school’s rigorous clinical program and how it prepares students for success. “I was over the moon when I got in.”

Rozell had heard the same about the clinical program. “Rutgers has a really good clinical program,” she said. During her interview, she got lost around the building and met an upperclassman who told her about the school and the education. “I felt this warm and welcoming environment,” she said.

Now, they’re together in lectures, preclinic, and every step of dental school. But they have distinct goals.

In Rozell’s case, she wants to push her boundaries and try new things, like exploring beyond orthodontics—which she had her mind set before RSDM—and improving her public speaking skills that she practiced by running for social chair of her class.

Khan, on the other hand, is excited to see how she will grow and transform in the next four years. “I’m really excited,” she said. “Just being in dental school every single day, I'm overcome with extreme gratefulness.”