When I read all of your feedbacks, I really felt like giving up on going into Dentistry. All of your feedbacks were great. Even though most were pessimistic, negativity has never stopped me. When a person falls that hard, all he can do is bounce back even harder.
I got convicted of "Conspiracy to commit robbery" @ the age of 17 back in '99. Me & my "so called brothers" back then were having dinner & they were discussing illegal activities & drawing up stuff on napkins; talking about making a heist. I simply got curious & joined in on their conversation. Weeks later, detectives from Orange County came to my high school & put me in cuffs. At that time I had no idea what was going on. I was just a kid who was in the process of joining the U.S. Navy. Later on in the interrogation room, I was grilled with questions about crap I barely knew about. Apparently my "brothers" actually made the heist on a computer warehouse. The one who led them was a 40 year-old woman posing as a man (she really does look like a guy). This cross dresser, whom I've met on several occasions, was responsible for a string of robberies on computer warehouses in the So Cal area back in the late 90's. He recruits youngsters like my buddies with the promise of fast cash & uses them for his/her dirty work.
After being grilled for 3-4 hours, I didn't want to put up with "YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS %$^&! DON'T $#^% LIE TO US!" anymore, so I finally admitted that I knew about certain plans. I didn't even know what "Conspiracy" was back then. I thought, hey I didn't even commit any so called "overt acts". And when the detectives formally charged me with "Conspiracy to commit robbery", I was devastated.
I was 16 @ the time, and have never gotten arrested before except a drug possessions charge back when I was 15 (Got caught with a joint in my wallet @ the school dance). I was pretty much screwed by the entire system afterwards. They called me a gang member, transferred my case to an adult court even though I was just 16 at the time. And the most unbelievable bull**** was the mastermind. Remember the cross dresser I mentioned? Yup they caught him/her too, but she got a slap on the wrist for the 30+ heists he/she masterminded. Yee Pop (her real name, she told us it's Mike) made a deal with the D.A. so that she became the prosecuting witness in my case, my buddies' cases, and all the other teenagers he recruited for her dirty rotten schemes.
I question the meaning of law & justice, and I am still looking for an attorney to reverse this case. When they threatened me with the "gun + gang act", which would've put in prison for 19 years, I took a plea bargain and did 3 years in state prison. I spent half of those 3 years fighting some major fires in California in the 2000 fire season. For a dollar an hour (can you say modern day slavery?).
I survived this & a lot more, all in a quarter century's time. I don't know why I babbled so much to you all. Maybe it's because I hold you all in great esteem & I felt the need to open up.
Anyways, I really felt like giving up on Dentistry until I found this
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/L...SB1752P2496.HTM
A Senate bill passed in 1994 stating that Dental students who had been convicted of a felony record may still get the chance to apply for state licensure if 10 years had passed since the conviction. I couldn't have been happier after I read this, but do realize that I need immaculate GPA/DAT to pull this thru. Thanks for your feedbacks, especially coolhanlu, & screw you Dutchboy, not all felons are butchers.
