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View from the Hill
Experiential Education at UNH:
When the World is Your Classroom

Sondra Alagna ’10, Dental Hygiene

Sondra Alagna of Newtown wasn’t always as certain of her future as she is now. But working in a dental office convinced her that dentistry was the field for her, and she is now enrolled in the Dental Hygiene Program at UNH and looking forward to attending dental school after graduation.

Alagna has been working steadily in a periodontal office, assisting in surgeries, cleaning patients’ teeth, taking X-rays, working in reception, and “doing everything in the office except for the actual surgeries,” she says.

Now that she is here, “UNH has added so much to my knowledge,” she says. “Everything I learned from the dentist’s office is now making sense to me. I’ve learned so much.”

Although Alagna says the field is a difficult one, her experience at UNH prepared her for the challenges. “The classes here are small, the dental clinic is beautiful, and the pass rate at UNH for the national board exam is 100 percent,” she says. “I knew I’d get a better education at the University of New Haven than at any other school I considered.”