My vision is to be a calm, patient, and present leader in steadfast civic service who creatively and compassionately fosters growth of hearts and minds.

This is why I teach. I have the opportunity to foster growth in students as individuals and future dental hygienists. As I teacher I love a student’s a-ha moments of growth and making connections, but I also recognize and value how a student’s mistakes and struggles in the program yield growth, too. Part of my job is to help students see failure as fertilizer. In clinic and the classroom, I strive to create a climate of kindness, curiosity, and commitment that nurtures and challenges my students. I collaborate across campus to create engaging socio-emotional and critical thinking learning experiences. I feel a great sense of responsibility to my students, my team, and our community to promote excellence in dental hygiene.

Students describe me as a caring professor who makes them think. Working together with my faculty team, I have witnessed how collectively our teaching behaviors can empower students such as the one who wrote me the unsolicited letter below in 2016. She is responding to a talk I gave the class at our last class session after three semesters. I have included this letter because she talks about her growth not only in clinical skills but also in managing her emotions and her self-esteem: growth that I am delighted and proud to take part in.

Dear Ms. Curry-Chiu,

I just wanted to let you know that your feelings in class today are completely reciprocated. I’ve been so lucky to have you as a professor and a cheerleader in clinic. I’ll never forget the day in clinic when you were my quad instructor and I had to complete sub-g scaling on not the most ideal patient. That was also my first day of giving LA on a patient. You’ve always helped with my confidence and making me feel capable.  That day for me was the day that I realized I can do this. I was so happy to have you there guiding me that day. I think about how far I have come due to nerves and whatever else has kept me from performing my best, and that day I was able to put it all aside and I was so proud of myself. Thank you for your patience and guidance. JCCC is so lucky to have you and I love and respect you so much. I hope to continue to grow and I just wanted to let you know how much everything you have done for me hasn’t gone unnoticed. I feel like I could keep writing forever about how grateful I am but I’ll end it here. Thank you so much again.

Sincerely, (Student)