Amanda Escobar is a fourth-year, first-generation criminology and justice studies major at Cal State San Marcos with an aspiration to be a dentist. She is finishing her major requirements this week while also taking classes to meet the requirements to get into dental school.

Although this seems simple, her story is not. Neither is her naturally altruistic outlook on life.

Escobar devotes most of her free time to a nonprofit mobile dental clinic hosted by USC. The clinic mainly serves children but also migrant workers, unhoused people and the underprivileged in need of dental care. 

Escobar said many people served by the clinic have never received dental care. 

“I was talking to these two mothers who came to the clinic, and they said they had just come from Guatemala two months ago,” Escobar said. “They explained to me that their two children have never received dental work. I’m glad we were able to help these kids with something that is so important yet taken for granted by some.” 

Escobar was shocked that the family had just moved to America, and she already was able to help them. 

A career in criminology and justice studies is quite different from being a dentist. But Escobar has found that the major helps her better understand situations at the clinic. 

Recently, two boys ages 16 and 17 were brought to the clinic from juvenile detention. One of them was hesitant to receive dental work because of his past. Because she is familiar with this topic from her coursework, Escobar incorporated prior knowledge to assess the situation in a different light than most people.

She approached the boy's care with a greater understanding of his needs.

“I totally understand,” she said. “I took a class on juvenile delinquency, and I thought, it’s not them, it's the system that breaks their trust. We had to reassure him that the clinic is trying to help him, not hurt him.”

Escobar had to overcome a lot to be where she is today. For starters, she had to learn how to get through college without her parents understanding her struggles. 

While her parents had to focus on working and making a home in a strange country, she had to navigate her academic journey largely by herself. 

“My college journey has been hard being a first-generation student and my parents coming from El Salvador,” Escobar said. 

She entered CSUSM on a good note, passing all of her classes in her first year. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, however, Escobar’s mental health took a turn for the worse. 

Receiving below a 2.0 GPA in her second year of college, she knew something had to be wrong beyond just the struggles of the pandemic. She had no motivation. She fell into a dark place, feeling like her parents didn’t understand the hard work required to receiving an education. She felt isolated.

Battling feelings of depression and suicidal thoughts, Escobar realized she needed help. She reached out to a doctor on campus to express her concerns. The medical team drove her to a local hospital for critical support.

She was diagnosed with depression and ADHD, which she said made her feel understood. 

“Society has such high expectations of women that women feel they have to mask their true identity from the people around them,” Escobar said.

Escobar felt like she had to disguise herself for the purpose of fitting into society, which caused her depression to skyrocket. 

The diagnosis of ADHD and depression was a huge relief. It reminded her that she's capable of success and that it wasn’t her fault she was being held back from it.

Escobar began working at the mobile dental clinic, started to gain a support system and became inspired. 

“The people I worked with at the clinic were the ones checking up on me because my parents don’t know anything about the application cycle with dental school,” she said. “The faculty at the clinic would ask me about certain classes I was taking or provide recommendations to different study materials or applications."

This support motivated Escobar to work toward a goal of becoming a dentist. She made the dean’s list last fall and will graduate this week. 

She plans to use the next year to study for the Dental Admission Test (DAT) as part of the application process. USC is her dream dental school.

Perhaps the only thing clearer than her goal is her motivation – to have a positive effect on her community.

“Every single time I go to the USC mobile clinic and I come back, I feel that confirmation that this is what I want to do, and I need to get certain things done so I can get to that point,” she said.

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Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

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