Dorrin Rey ‘15

Dorrin (Right) poses cloaked in an Irish flag with her Irish friend.

They’re after me pearly whites!

Home of leprechauns, friendly taxi drivers, and Game of Thrones tours, Dorrin Reyhan ’15 has traveled to Belfast, Ireland to study at the University of Queens and to find her personal pot of gold - a career in dentistry.

Dorrin wasn’t always bound for the Celtic coasts. Just like she wasn’t always fated for floss. "I always wanted to go into some sort of health care profession" says Dorrin. She volunteered at a clinic in her early years at the senior school, and then thanks to the scrupulous work of University Guidance, particularly Ms. Embury, Dorrin was able to find her way to what she loved and where to study it.

Passion in dentistry, Dorrin tells us, can be attributed to how diverse the profession is. "When you do the work experience, you realize it’s quite multidimensional. It’s not just looking into people’s mouths. There’s the public health aspect of it. There’s the business aspect of it, how’re you’re actually running your own business, cosmetic, and then there’s the oral health."

Interestingly, Dorrin came to her first University Guidance meeting with Ms. Embury, set on the US and studying for the SATs. Then, sensing her passion, Spirit Guide Embury showed her another, more efficient route to her dreams of dental hygiene. So, to the rolling green hills of Ireland Dorrin went to take advantage of the UK education system that allowed her to immediately begin her study of dentistry, a directness that can only be compared to a precision endodontic file performing a root canal.

Settling in wasn’t easy at first. Due to travel logistics, Dorrin started school two weeks late, missing Freshers’ (The Irish equivalent of Frosh Week) and initial period of bonding. Not only was her real-world social network reduced to the levels of an awkward middle schooler in the Tundra, Dorrin was surprised to find herself ajar with a new way of life. "Believe it or not. It is a little bit of a culture shock." Within a week Dorrin had made calls to Ms. Embury and asked if it was possible to transfer back to UBC. Her family came to the rescue. "My parents were just like, we support whatever you want to do but give it more time."

Call it luck of the Irish, or parental inspired persistence, within three days Dorrin had decided she loved it there. It was the kindness of the Irish people that lead to her drop-in anxiety and change of heart. "You think Canadians are nice. It’s like on steroids here." Dorrin remembers a particularly moving instance, where after she departed her parents’ hotel room to go to Queens she entered the taxi crying. Seeing the colour of her eyes, red (the hideous anti-colour of all things Irish) The taxi driver leapt into action. "He put on that song, It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones. I’ll never forget it, he said - Just listen to this song. You’ll feel better." It seems that taxi drivers spread the good vibes wherever they drive in Ireland. Dorrin describes the nation as less materialistic than Vancouver, and more community over commodity. When asked if she believed Irish people are really lucky, Dorrin responded: "Not really. I think they’ve had their fair share of hardships; but they are lucky in the sense that they have a really good outlook on life." When it comes to tourism Dorrin says the coasts are lovely, and the Wee Toast Bike Tour in Belfast is a must, but the big selling point is the people.

The hidden joys of dentistry in Ireland don’t stop at the feel-good folks though. Due to her studies, she acquired a super power for sizing up incisors, that she calls "A Sixth Sense". "It’s not even funny. I floss religiously now. Whenever I’m watching TV or I meet someone new, I just like zoom in on their teeth. It’s bizarre. If you smoke I can tell right away now. It’s so easy for me." That’s pretty impressive, and sounds almost like a premise for a movie - They walk among us; they see the unseen. From Canada to Ireland. They are dentists.

This one is for you Dorrin:

She knows when you’ve been smoking
Or eating too much cake.
She’s knows if you have flossed or not
Twice a day for goodness sake!

After Queens, Dorrin hopes to become certified in Canada in case she wants to come back. In the immediate future, she’s more interested in travelling to a bigger city in the UK like London.

Dorrin doesn’t have an Irish lucky ritual for getting ready for exams, but she does like to listen to music.

Here at Collingwood we wish you the best of luck, and assure you that in a world full of daunting toothpicks and cleansing foams, you’ll always be one Dentist we look forward to going to.