Humans of TUSDM: Jasmine Perry (D25)
In the blur of what dental school can feel like, “Humanizing TUSDM" is a project created by Yenna Chu (D27) to remind us of our shared humanity and the special stories that make us who we are. The project hopes for members of the Tufts Dental community to find comfort in knowing they are not alone on this journey and to help build new connections through storytelling.
“My son, Kenneth, is 6 and he’s such a great kid. He loves drawing so I like to take him to places where he can be creative. We actually went to the museum recently. I realized we’re not always going to live here (in Boston). Even though in that moment I was stressed out and thinking that I should be at home studying for my stuff, it was worth it. Somehow, I’m trying to act calm because he just wants to spend time with his mom.
When you’re a parent, you’re have a different kind of brain. Even if I wanted to go home and sleep now, I have somebody who’s looking to eat tonight. If I sleep and I don’t want to eat, that’s fine. But he’s still hungry so I have to think about someone else.
When I think if I ever were to give up, I can’t because I now have to survive for myself and for him. It makes it worth it though because Kenneth is such a good child and every now and then he’ll say, ‘Mommy, I’m just so proud of you.’ I don’t even know if he knows what that means but it means a lot to me because he’s so understanding. If I had a long day at school I’ll say, ‘Kenneth, I had a really long day today, just give me 5 minutes.’
One time he came over and brought me a drawing saying, ‘Mommy, I love you thank you so much for being my mom.’ I don’t know if he can feel my energy, but sometimes I think he can. He realizes that most of the time I am happy, so if I am not in a good mood, he seems to sense that and he doesn’t bother me. He just goes away, and he’ll come back with something like the note he wrote. He has such a good heart.
I actually went to his school the other day because, in your third year, you get to do rotations at Josiah Quincy. I surprised him for lunch and you should’ve seen the smile on his face. You would’ve thought I was a celebrity. I brought a little gift for him and cupcakes for all of his friends. He was so thrilled to see me there. It was during a busy week as well, but those are the little moments that get me through hard weeks in dental school.”
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