Few teenagers would describe a trip to the dentist as exciting, let alone life changing. But for Ella ’27, a day student from Norwich, Vermont, an exploratory visit to a family friend’s endodontics practice wound up having a profound impact. The visit was so influential, in fact, that Ella plans to become an endodontist — a specialized dentist focused on preserving ones’ original teeth through procedures like root canals — and even designed a unique Cullman Scholarship experience to learn more about the field and helping others.