A day in their scrubs

December 17, 2013 | by Jennifer Fuentes

Meet D1 Rashmi Kutnikar

Hometown: Monroe, La.

Dental school survival strategy: So far I would say don’t stress yourself out too much. I know a lot of people who will stay up till 4:00 a.m. I think you still need to remember to keep yourself healthy, avoid skipping meals and get your sleep. In the end you don’t want to get sick and have it be a terrible experience the first year. Go out and be able to balance your time; have fun with friends; don’t just stay inside studying all the time.

Most productive time of day: probably around 6:00 p.m. when I get home. I can’t just go straight into studying. I just take a little break, eat a little snack and get to studying. I get really productive until about 9:00, and then I’m tired.

Best way to unwind after a long day in lecture or lab: I really love to try new restaurants and eat different things. Since I’ve never lived in Dallas before this year, my friends and I will set up dinner nights. Tonight we’ll go out. It definitely de-stresses, and after that I won’t do any studying.

Favorite energy food: My favorite is going to Starbucks and getting the holiday coffees. It’s the best, especially if you’ve had a bad day. The gingerbread latte is my absolute favorite. I look forward to it every year.

Goal after graduation: I really want to stay in Dallas, maybe work up here for a while and then go to a suburb. I would love to work with someone with a lot of experience. I wouldn’t want to start off by myself at first, but I would eventually want to go off and start my own practice.

What people may not know about you: I like going to listen to new music and love learning about new bands. I really like indie music — all the upcoming bands are usually indie. I love things like that – bands that not many people know about. I just went to see one downtown. There were probably 20 people in this little bar. There was a big platform, but we were right in front of it. Each band is so different to me. I am always looking on Ticketmaster to see what kind of concerts are coming up.