My name is Amanda and on behalf of the M State Dental Hygiene program and the class of 2025 we would like to introduce you to Josh Mark. Josh is a former classmate of the 2025 hygiene program. He is a very caring and happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Josh is always willing to step in and help a fellow classmate, whether it be guidance with studying or as a patient for a relentless number of impressions. Josh has worked in our local dental community for the last 20 years as a lab technician perfecting his expertise fabricating dental crowns and bridges and has chosen to further his career in the dental field.

While studying alongside Josh you would never know the hardships he has faced in life as his demeanor hides it well. While navigating rigorous hygiene courses and schedule, Josh’s mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Being the last next of kin, Josh was responsible to care for his ailing mother during the final weeks of her life. Josh would often spend many nights caring for his mother and studying alongside her while she slept because he knew his time was limited with her. He took advantage of every moment he could knowing these final moments were precious. After his mother passed away, the final arrangements and obligations fell on him. As a full-time student, working to maintain his own expenses was hard enough and now he is faced with funeral expenses, school expenses, legal fees associated with probate issues, and unexpected vet bills as his pup has been having health issues lately as well.

Because of the financial stress, Josh made the difficult decision to withdraw from the dental hygiene program to focus on trying to work to pay off the tremendous debt that has been thrown at him. His plan is to rejoin the dental hygiene program next year because his passion is the dental world.

Josh has worked so hard for his acceptance into the hygiene program, even making the Deans list multiple semesters. Making a change later in life is hard enough, now to extrapolate the unknown and heartbreaking events such as losing a mother and the final expenses in conjunction with the known expectations. As Josh’s classmates and faculty, we want to help him in any facet we can and to show him that he is not alone during this difficult time. Let’s wrap our arms around him and show him that there is a community surrounding him and cheering him on. Anything helps, if you can not support with monetary donations, please consider sharing this Go Fund Me page with someone.