Dr. Terri Baarstad always found Lane Community College to be there for her when she needed it most. After her first year at the University of Oregon, she wanted a change and enrolled in the Dental Assisting program at Lane. As the first person in her family to go to college, she recalls appreciating the small class sizes and accessibility of the faculty. She completed the program, began working in the field, married, and started a family. After a few years she had a realization. "One day I'm sitting across from the dentist thinking, 'I could do that. I should be over there!'" She began to research what it would take to become a dentist, and continued her journey by signing up for night courses at Lane.

As a single mother with two young children, she faced opposition from some who thought her goal of becoming a dentist was unrealistic. But she had a plan, she mapped out the courses she needed, juggling work and raising her children, and at the end she wrote the words, "Graduate. Be a dentist." She stuck to the plan, finishing her prerequisite courses at Lane and the University of Oregon before finally enrolling in dental school at Oregon Health Sciences University and receiving a doctorate in medical dentistry in 2001.

Now a successful dentist with thriving practices in Eugene and Springfield, she sees the positive impact Lane has on health professions in Lane County. She says, "The dental assisting and dental hygiene programs are vital to the dental community. Lane graduates are well trained and valuable team members." Her own children both attended Lane and she considers the college to be a place of opportunity-wherever you are in life.

Dr. Baarstad appreciates the value of community service and devotes herself to improving the dental health of those around her. She is passionate about helping young men and women explore a career in dentistry and is an active member of the American Dental Association, the Oregon Dental Association, and the Academy of General Dentistry.

Having attended Lane in both the 1980s and the 1990s, she is pleased to see the effect of the college's immersion within the community, and knows that Lane is a valuable asset to all life-long learners.

Dr. Baarstad was honored as one of five Distinguished Alumni named by the college in honor of its 50th anniversary in fall 2014.

More information about the Dental Assisting program

More information about the Dental Hygiene program

Published by the Lane Community College Foundation, January 2015.