Like mother, like daughter
CLC classmates graduate as dental assistants
Linda Schneider has always been close to daughter Tricia, so perhaps it's no surprise the two were classmates at Central Lakes College.
They are 2005 graduates from the Brainerd campus-based dental assisting program.
They each are coaxing high honors from the hours of homework shared through the 44-credit diploma program.
By the end of July, however, they will have gone their separate ways to work in dental offices of choice, Linda preferring to remain in the Deerwood area, and her 20-something daughter opting for life in the big city -- Minneapolis or thereabouts.
"We would quiz each other with notecards," said Tricia, a 2002 graduate of Aitkin High School. She and her mom shared academic progress in a program that prepares graduates for the dental assistant registration and certification options that validate their training.
This summer they each will have two internships as part of the course requirements. Worth seven credits, the internships give dental assistant trainees their first taste of professional experience outside the campus clinic setting.
And for the first time since June 2004, mother and daughter will say goodbye to the cooperative, quality study time that they acknowledge was beneficial toward mastering what has been learned thus far. They began their academic journey in a prerequisite biology class at CLC last summer.
Linda said she has worked in a variety of occupations, including as a paraprofessional in the Crosby-Ironton school district for the past 13 years. She and Tricia share an appreciation for health services, and the younger Schneider has not ruled out additional studies in health care.
Instructors LeAnn Schoenle and Julie Bennett said they are proud of the work of this mother-daughter team. Schoenle has for several decades observed similar combinations of related students driven by familial support, if not sibling rivalry.
Examples that came to mind on Graduation Night relative to the Class of 2005 are Samantha Wipper of St. Cloud, whose sister, Sara, was at CLC two years ago, and Jaclyn Willis of Little Falls, whose twin, Jenny, is a grad.
Also a couple of years ago Michelle Nelson, sister of 2005 grad Erin Shankle of Crosby, was in the program.
The first mother-daughter classmate combo was Vicki Miller and daughter Darla, recalled Schoenle. "And we have had two students who have had aunts in our program and who are practicing dental assistants," she said.