The 28th TAO Annual Meeting & APOS (Asian Pacific Orthodontic Society) Resident Forum
From December 4 to December 6 of 2015, I had the immense honor to participate as a speaker on “The 28th TAO Annual Meeting & 2015 APOS (Asian Pacific Orthodontic Society) Resident Forum”, which was held at the Windsor Hotel, in Taichung city, Taiwan, where with peers from different countries and cultural backgrounds I shared and talked about the preliminary results of my Doctoral research. I spoke about the “Changes of the airways and sleep-breathing patterns of skeletal Class II children undergoing activator therapy”. I was able to talk about the steps I am taking to develop consistent results as well as the preliminary outcomes of the experimental procedures undertaken to complete the research. As an international student in Japan I was already used to the differences between my country and here, but going to Taiwan for the first time and giving an oral presentation to boot, was an otherworldly experience.
Even though I have had already given a couple presentations here in Japan beforehand, the prospect of doing the same in front of a set of judges sent thrills down my spine. It was a very fun and enlightening experience nonetheless. I also learned many things from the different presenters and their researches, I think every oral presentation I was witness of offered me with new exciting and interesting information that would have possibly taken a long time to get to my hands have I not gone to this Conference. I want to thank my mentor Dr. Hiroshi Ueda, for always being supportive and encouraging with me, as also the staff at the Orthodontics Department for their kind assistance. It made me feel proud of myself that I was able to take this step, with the encouragement of my Mentor and my family of course, and also showed me that I still need to try and improve many things from both myself and my research. I hope that in the years to come I may come by many chances to present internationally so I can bring pride to my country (Dominican Republic), my mentors and my peers.