04 We did it our way
Kristian Davies
Age: 18
Left academic education: Still in academic education
Defining moment: two weeks hands-on work experience at a local dental surgery
Current occupation: dental student
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Michael Davies
"Kristian was interested in the medical profession from an early age; after visiting the dentist aged ten he decided that that was the career for him.
We had always discussed Kristian’s education with him and did all we could to support him. After he gained good GCSE grades, we visited various colleges as a family to find out which A levels he needed to get into dental school.
Although Kristian was determined to become a dentist, we knew that it was important to keep our options open, so I arranged work experience for him in a hospital, covering several medical fields.
This didn’t faze him at all and he was still determined to reach his goal.
He’s now a term into studying dentistry at university and is really enjoying it. I’m so glad that we researched all his career options so thoroughly, as he has no regrets about the path he has taken and is really enjoying his course.
Kristian has entered many competitions but the one that really stands out is Edge into Space, when he won two weeks behind the scenes at NASA in America.
Although we’ve always supported him, neither his mother nor I have ever forced any decisions on him and ultimately all his achievements are down to his own hard work. We’re incredibly proud of him."