It's been a happy, sad, and busy year, with more to come in 2015

As the year draws to a close and we peek into 2015, it gives us pause to think about the major events that occurred during 2014. Whether it was personal, dental hygiene-related, or global events, there have been changes in all of us during the last 12 months.

We started the year with some good news, when crew members from the Chinese ship, the Snow Dragon, rescued 52 people from a Russian research vessel that had been stuck in the ice in Antarctica for nine days. We watched the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in February, an event that seemed to bring the world together. Human Rights Activist Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for their advocacy efforts for worldwide access to education, especially for young girls and women.

But today as I write my final Introduction for 2014, there is a great sense of sadness in my soul. The Taliban attacked the Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan today. About 125 people were killed in the siege, including more than 100 children. A Taliban spokesman says the attack is in retaliation for the military's offensive against militant hideouts in North Waziristan.

In June, the Pakistani Taliban launched an attack at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Pakistan. We have had to deal with the Ebola virus here in the U.S., but we are not at the same high-risk level as people who live in some parts of Africa. There are many other events from 2014 that caused great sadness, but there were also many that we could celebrate.

On a personal note, I’ve traveled to many places for business and pleasure – Hawaii, Boston, Mammoth Mountain, Michigan, Chicago, Kansas City, Buffalo, Germany, Japan, Korea, Italy, Switzerland, and a cruise through the Panama Canal. Here are some highlights of those trips related to dental hygiene:

• The EBD Champions 2.0: Implementing Science in Practice, held at the ADA in Chicago
• Korea for the Korean Dental Hygienists Association
• The ADHA meeting in Las Vegas
• RDH UOR in Chicago
• The North American Dental Hygiene Research Meeting in Bethesda
• A site visit to Basel, Switzerland, for the International Symposium on Dental Hygiene in 2016
• The first International Dental Hygiene Educator’s Meeting in Germany
• The Second International Meeting on Dental Bleaching, The Link Between Biology and Esthetics in Viareggio, Italy

I’ve worked with a number of corporate sponsors in various capacities, and of course with Pennwell, who brings you this newsletter and many others, as well as RDH magazine and RDH UOR.

We have many events to look forward to in 2015! We have RDH Under One Roof in Las Vegas July 15-17(1), the ADHA Annual Session in Nashville, June 17-23(2), the First Dental Hygiene Expo in Verona, Italy April 10-11(3,4), and the Second International Dental Hygiene Educator’s Meeting in Victoria, Canada October 28.(5) This is just to name a few.

I want to thank all those who have contributed to RDH eVillage Focus in 2014, including the staff – Meg Kaiser, Mark Hartley, and Craig Dickson. As we move into 2015, I think it’s important to show gratitude to all who make your life complete. Embrace the Past. Live in the Present. Inspire the Future. In the words of the great Maya Angelou, who we lost this year, “Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.” We all know people who are dealing with life and death issues, and we all need a helping hand at some time. Ms. Angelou also said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”Make those around you feel loved, needed, and accepted, including yourself. Thank you for reading RDH eVillage Focus.