Loren Matrone, cell and molecular biology senior, is moving back to her home state to attend dental school.
Matrone will be attending the University of Texas School of Dentistry.
Matrone said she has wanted to be a dentist since she was 17 years old when she shadowed a cosmetic dentist.
“I did a mentorship program in high school and figured out that was the career I wanted to pursue,” Matrone said. “I came to OCU, had really great professors and took classes that prepared me well to take my DAT, which is the entrance exam for dental school.”
Matrone said dentistry is a culmination of all the things that are important to her.
“I think the profession is a combination of all of the things I’m looking for. It has the scientific side to it, but also a personal side as well,” she said. “I think for me it combined that with my love for making people smile and giving them the confidence to smile.”
Matrone is a member of Beta Beta Beta, the national biological honor society, as well as a former member of the OCU women’s golf team.
Matrone said the decision to quit golf was difficult.
“That was a decision for me to focus more on dentistry and what would have been the upcoming application cycle. It’s very time-consuming and demanding, trying to get in all of those shadowing hours and volunteering,” she said. “In order for me to get in, I needed to stop golfing and allocate that time for doing things that helped me get into my goal of getting into dental school.”
In the spring of 2020, Matrone founded the OCU Pre-health Professionals Club. Matrone said the club was created to help guide students through the application process for professional schools.
“It was a passion project of mine, and we were able to make it a functioning club. We had an event with OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine where they Zoomed in and were able to help some of our students that were looking to go on the medical route,” she said.
Dr. Helen Gaudin, associate dean of Petree College of Arts and Sciences, serves as the faculty advisor for the club.
Gaudin said the club was entirely Matrone’s idea.
“As she moved up to be an upperclassman, she felt like some of the underclassmen she talked to weren’t understanding all of the things they needed to understand about applying to health professional schools, like medical school and dental school,” Gaudin said. “We do have faculty advising, and all of the students talk with their advisors about these things, but Loren perceived that students needed more.”
Gaudin said Matrone wrote up a proposal and served as the inaugural president of the club. Gaudin said she admires Matrone’s positive attitude.
“Since I met her as a freshman, she has been very grateful for the opportunities she’s gotten here, and she’s never seemed to lose that gratitude,” Gaudin said. “That’s a wonderful trait that will serve her well in life.”
In addition to her club memberships, Matrone is also involved with Student Government Association.
“I’m about to transition out of secretary of public relations. Before that, I was a senator,” Matrone said. “That was really formative for me to be in an advocacy role and just being a voice for students. It allowed me to see that I want to be involved with more of the advocacy side of dentistry, working with Washington D.C., working with lobbyists and people who advocate for dental students.”
Matrone said Gaudin has been a big part of her OCU experience.
“She’s been there every step of the way, written countless recommendation letters for me, supported me in everything I’ve done, so I would say she’s definitely been a big part of my experience here,” Matrone said. “Every single one of my biology professors, every English professor, every faculty member, everyone at OCU makes an impact.”
Matrone said students shouldn’t let the hard decisions keep you from doing what you want to do.
“There’s going to be those late nights studying for organic chemistry where you just don’t want to do it anymore. In those moments, I think about the patients that I impact with my small role working as a dental assistant,” she said. “It was a tough choice for me to leave golf, it was a tough choice for me to move to Houston, and I think that those hard choices scare us but are often the ones that pay off the most.”
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