Texas A&M College of Dentistry grad to make history this weekend
The Brief
At 58, Cristina Flores will become the oldest graduate with a Bachelor of Science in dental hygiene from Texas A&M College of Dentistry this Sunday.
Flores, continuing a family tradition in dentistry, moved from Laredo to achieve her degree, becoming the third in her family to graduate from the A&M system.
She hopes her story inspires others, stressing that age shouldn't limit one's goals.
DALLAS - History will be made on Sunday when Cristina Flores, 58, becomes the oldest graduate with a Bachelor of Science dental hygiene degree from Texas A&M College of Dentistry.
The backstory
Flores applied to the Texas A&M College of Dentistry five years ago.
The 58-year-old left her native Laredo to move to North Texas and attend the school.
The work runs in the family. Her father was a dentist for 60 years. Her two brothers and sister are dentists or oral surgeons.
She is also the third in her family to graduate from the Texas A&M University system. She has two sons, now attorneys, who both graduated from the school.
Flores' daughter attended her mother's pinning ceremony, even pinning her Bachelor of Science in dental hygiene pin.
Her children were with her as she got her Aggie ring. A symbol of what she has accomplished.
What they're saying
"I knew I wanted to come here even though it was further away from home. I knew I wanted to come here. I wanted to be an Aggie also," Flores said. "It was a challenge learning how to study again, and I found out I loved school. I didn't remember how much I liked school, but it was a challenge sitting down and studying."
Flores first started college in 1987, but did not get to finish.
"I knew I wanted to finish it. It was always in the back of my mind. I knew I was eventually going to go back," she said. "It turned out to be a great choice."
Flores hopes her story is a sign to others of what they can accomplish.
"There's no deadline on goals. You can definitely do it at whatever age at 55. At 53, I didn't know I was going to be here and look at me now. When I started I remember saying, 'I'm going to be 58 by the time I graduate, and it's here. It's already here, so no, there's no deadline to what you can do," she said.
The Source
Information in this article comes from an interview between FOX 4's Shaun Rabb and Cristina Flores.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News24
3 hours ago
- News24
Onderstepoort collapse ‘left SA defenceless', says Steenhuisen as foot-and-mouth surges
Be among those who shape the future with knowledge. Uncover exclusive stories that captivate your mind and heart with our FREE 14-day subscription trial. Dive into a world of inspiration, learning, and empowerment. You can only trial once.
Fox News
5 hours ago
- Fox News
'Not recommended for human consumption' label may be required on chips, candies in Texas
A bill sitting on the desk of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could force the food industry to digest the Make America Healthy Again movement. Texas Senate Bill 25 would require foods containing certain ingredients to have warning labels on their packaging. Some chips, candies and sodas would be required to bear the following label: "WARNING: This product contains an ingredient that is not recommended for human consumption." There are 44 ingredients listed, such as synthetic food dyes and bleached flour. M&M's would need the labeling in question, as they contain red 40, yellow 6 and blue dyes 1 and 2. Trix cereal contains blue 1 and red 40, while Doritos chips have red 40 and yellow 6 and 5. If signed into law, the legislation would require the label to be "placed in a prominent and reasonably visible location," the bill states. The bill states that the ingredients that should be disclosed are "any artificial color, food additive or other chemical ingredient banned by Canada, the European Union or the United Kingdom." Analysis behind the legislation found that 73% of the U.S. food supply is considered ultra-processed, with Americans' diet consisting of a 57% consumption of ultra-processed foods – "shown to be linked to depression, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease." "The industry is committed to transparency and has long invested in product transparency tools that help consumers to make informed choices for themselves and their families." In January, the FDA banned red dye 3, listed in the bill, from foods after being linked to cancer, as Fox News Digital previously reported. The Consumer Brands Association (CBA), which represents major food manufacturers such as General Mills and PepsiCo, are "urging" Abbott to veto the bill. "The labeling requirements of SB 25 mandate inaccurate warning language, create legal risks for brands and drive consumer confusion and higher costs," John Hewitt, senior vice president of state affairs, told Fox News Digital this week. "The industry is committed to transparency and has long invested in product transparency tools that help consumers to make informed choices for themselves and their families," Hewitt said. He added, "No industry is more committed to safety than the makers of America's trusted household brands. The ingredients used in the U.S. food supply are safe and have been rigorously studied following an objective science and risk-based evaluation process." In April, Fox News Digital asked U.S. Health and Human Resources Secretary Robert F. Kennedy about how Americans will be able to identify products that comply with the phase-out of petroleum-based dyes. "We're looking at labeling. We have to go to Congress for that — but one of the things that we're going to do is post all the information we have about every additive on an open-source website," he said. "And we're going to encourage companies … to develop apps in the private marketplace where mothers can go in and scan a barcode of every product in their grocery store and know what's in them and what's not." If signed by Abbott, food manufacturers would be required to add a label starting on Jan. 1, 2027.
CNN
5 hours ago
- CNN
Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy violated the law, a federal inquiry finds
A Texas hospital that repeatedly sent a woman who was bleeding and in pain home without ending her nonviable, life-threatening pregnancy violated the law, according to a newly released federal investigation. The government's findings, which have not been previously reported, were a small victory for 36-year-old Kyleigh Thurman, who ultimately lost part of her reproductive system after being discharged without any help from her hometown emergency room for her dangerous ectopic pregnancy. But a new policy the Trump administration announced on Tuesday has thrown into doubt the federal government's oversight of hospitals that deny women emergency abortions, even when they are at risk for serious infection, organ loss or severe hemorrhaging. Thurman had hoped the federal government's investigation, which issued a report in April after concluding its inquiry last year, would send a clear message that ectopic pregnancies must be treated by hospitals in Texas, which has one of the nation's strictest abortion bans. 'I didn't want anyone else to have to go through this,' Thurman said in an interview with the Associated Press from her Texas home this week. 'I put a lot of the responsibility on the state of Texas and policy makers and the legislators that set this chain of events off.' Women around the country have been denied emergency abortions for their life-threatening pregnancies after states swiftly enacted abortion restrictions in response to a 2022 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes three appointees of President Donald Trump. The guidance issued by the Biden administration in 2022 was an effort to preserve access to emergency abortions for extreme cases in which women were experiencing medical emergencies. It directed hospitals — even ones in states with severe restrictions — to provide abortions in those emergency cases. If hospitals did not comply, they would be in violation of a federal law and risk losing some federal funds. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the law and inspecting hospitals, announced on Tuesday it would revoke the Biden-era guidance around emergency abortions. CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a social media post on Wednesday that the revocation of the policy would not prevent pregnant women from getting treatment in medical emergencies. 'The Biden Administration created confusion, but EMTALA is clear and the law has not changed: women will receive care for miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and medical emergencies in all fifty states—this has not and will never change in the Trump Administration,' Oz wrote, using the acronyms for the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The law, which remains intact and requires doctors to provide stabilizing treatment, was one of the few ways that Thurman was able to hold the emergency room accountable after she didn't receive any help from staff at Ascension Seton Williamson in Round Rock, Texas in February of 2023, a few months after Texas enacted its strict abortion ban. Emergency room staff observed that Thurman's hormone levels had dropped, a pregnancy was not visible in her uterus and a structure was blocking her fallopian tube — all telltale signs of an ectopic pregnancy, when a fetus implants outside of the uterus and has no room to grow. If left untreated, ectopic pregnancies can rupture, causing organ damage, hemorrhage or even death. Thurman, however, was sent home and given a pamphlet on miscarriage for her first pregnancy. She returned three days later, still bleeding, and was given an injected drug intended to end the pregnancy, but it was too late. Days later, she showed up again at the emergency room, bleeding out because the fertilized egg growing on Thurman's fallopian tube ruptured it. She underwent an emergency surgery that removed part of her reproductive system. CMS launched its investigation of how Ascension Seton Williamson handled Thurman's case late last year, shortly after she filed a complaint. Investigators concluded the hospital failed to give her a proper medical screening exam, including an evaluation with an OB-GYN. The hospital violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing treatment to all patients. Thurman was 'at risk for deterioration of her health and wellbeing as a result of an untreated medical condition,' the investigation said in its report, which was publicly released last month. Ascension, a vast hospital system that has facilities across multiple states, did not respond to questions about Thurman's case, saying only that it is 'is committed to providing high-quality care to all who seek our services.' Doctors and legal experts have warned abortion restrictions like the one Texas enacted have discouraged emergency room staff from aborting dangerous and nonviable pregnancies, even when a woman's life is imperiled. The stakes are especially high in Texas, where doctors face up to 99 years in prison if convicted of performing an illegal abortion. Lawmakers in the state are weighing a law that would remove criminal penalties for doctors who provide abortions in certain medical emergencies. 'We see patients with miscarriages being denied care, bleeding out in parking lots. We see patients with nonviable pregnancies being told to continue those to term,' said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights that represented Thurman. 'This is not, maybe, what some people thought abortion bans would look like, but this is the reality.' The Biden administration routinely warned hospitals that they need to provide abortions when a woman's health was in jeopardy, even suing Idaho over its state law that initially prohibited nearly all abortions, unless a woman's life was on the line. But CMS' announcement on Tuesday raises questions about whether such investigations will continue if hospitals do not provide abortions for women in medical emergencies. The agency said it will still enforce the law, 'including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy.' While states like Texas have clarified that ectopic pregnancies can legally be treated with abortions, the laws do not provide for every complication that might arise during a pregnancy. Several women in Texas have sued the state for its law, which has prevented women from terminating pregnancies in cases where their fetuses had deadly fetal anomalies or they went into labor too early for the fetus to survive. Thurman worries pregnant patients with serious complications still won't be able to get the help they may need in Texas emergency rooms. 'You cannot predict the ways a pregnancy can go,' Thurman said. 'It can happen to anyone, still. There's still so many ways in which pregnancies that aren't ectopic can be deadly.'
