Student Stephanie Hollands finds her smile as she nears completion of dental hygiene program

For Stephanie Hollands, the finish line isn’t just in sight. It’s within reach.  

“I’m so ready,” she said.  

The dental hygiene student is in the final semester at Jackson College and after years of hard work the experience has been life changing for her. 

“I’ve obviously learned a lot about dental hygiene but I’ve also learned a lot about myself,” she said. “The more you challenge yourself the more you grow and this was a huge challenge for me and I think it’s helped me grow as a person today.” 

The Hillsdale native was told at a young age the odds were against her. 

“I had my son young so I always had to kind of go above and beyond in life to achieve things that I wanted and having him in high school, I remember somebody telling me that the statistic of single teenage moms living in poverty and off the state were greater than them going to college. I think that was another reason why I want to be different. I want to be that small statistic that my son has somebody to look up to.” 

That drive led her to Jackson College’s the Dental Hygiene program because of its practicality.   

“The location, the home, the price, friendliness and just all the good things that I’ve heard about the school,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to work in healthcare. I’ve always wanted to help people. I just felt like this was a better fit for me because with dental hygiene, you get to have a lot more control over your work schedule and I like that.” 

The education has been rigorous but worth it.  

“I would say the workload is compared to like nursing,” Hollands said. “It’s like the same kind of workload, same competitive classes. You have to apply to even get a seat in the program and there’s only 10 seats so you just got to work really hard and then when you get in the program you just study, study, study while being in the program.” 

For Hollands that workload didn’t exist in a vacuum. She balanced it all while working and raising her son.  

“My time management skills are probably very elite. Make time to study, make time to come to school, go to work, be mom,” she said. “I am very organized or at least think I am. I try to be because it’s challenging but helps me grow.” 

She is quick to point out she didn’t do it alone. 

“My program instructors, my program director, my financial aid advisor,” she said. “There’s been a lot of people behind me helping me reach success. I think it’s a great school. It’s a little community and everyone’s just very supportive of each other. With the class being only 10 people I feel like we’re very closeknit and always relying on each other, reaching out to each other and just leaning on each other in the hard times.”  

With graduation set for May 2026, Stephanie is looking ahead. She has secured a job and is ready for the next chapter.  

“Graduation is the step into the new me. I’m going to work,” she said. “I have already lined up a job and I plan to go back to work and help the community the best way I know possible.  

The advice she gives other students who are in the same path is to believe in yourself.  

“You have to believe you can do it or it’s not going to happen. It’s hard because there are some days where even I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t know how I’m doing this,’ but, I just get up every day and I just show up or I’m meant to and I don’t think too far into the future and just keep going one day at a time,” she said. 

One last piece of advice? 

“Brush your teeth.”