Eiler pursues dental hygiene career

By Chloe Gregg
Associate Editor

For many people, going to the dentist is one of the most dreaded appointments of the year. But for others, visiting the dentist has always been fun and interesting.

Julie Eiler is a 22-year-old LCC student who enjoys dental visits, and she is turning it into a career.

Eiler is enrolled in LCC’s Dental Hygiene Program and plans to graduate in May of 2023. She holds a bachelor’s degree in science for psychology and a minor in quantitative data analytics from Michigan State University. She was initially interested in pursuing that field before finding out about LCC’s dental hygiene program and switching career paths.

“When I was younger, I had a lot of teeth issues so I had to go to the dentist a lot,” Eiler said. “Then in high school I had braces for three years, so I’ve had a lot of experience with going to the dentist.

“I always enjoyed chatting with my hygienists and learning about what they do. Having those positive experiences definitely influenced me when choosing what I want to do, along with the current pay of dental hygienists.”

In her free time, Eiler said she enjoys hanging out with her friends, attending EDM festivals and living it up in East Lansing. When it’s warm outside, she said she loves to go bike riding on Lansing trails.

“The program is really tough, but it’s been such a worthwhile experience and I do really like that a lot of the learning is more hands-on than how I normally learn,” Eiler said of the dental hygiene program. “My teachers and the faculty are all super helpful and I have made so many life-long friends in the program.”

One of these friends from her program, Corinna Peterson, said having Eiler in class makes the classes much easier to get through.

“I think the first month class started, Julie and I really gravitated toward each other and became pretty much inseparable,” Peterson said. “I honestly don’t know if I would be able to get through this program without having a great friend like her to study with and encourage me through it. She is always positive and always helpful when I need her to be.”