By Elisabeth Costanzo Stewart
Exactly eight decades ago, the New York State Institute of Applied Arts & Sciences at Binghamton was founded as a post-World War II, state-funded experiment in higher education. The purpose was simple: to offer veterans an opportunity to retool in high-demand fields in gratitude for their service. Since then, thousands of U.S. veterans have proudly come to SUNY Broome to do just that, including veteran, alumna, and Dental Hygiene: A.A.S. professor, Kristin Hofer (née Pretty) (DH ‘02)
After serving for eight years as a Petty Officer Second Class in the U.S. Navy, Hofer earned her dental hygiene degree at the College via her G.I. Bill benefits. Equally passionate about her military service and dental career, she returned to her alma mater to train the next generation of oral health practitioners.
Hofer spent her early childhood in Brooklyn, New York, before trading city living for country life in the Poconos. As a young girl, she was profoundly inspired by films involving the military, which set her sights on a potential career path. Despite her family’s rich history of service in the armed forces, her parents were initially unenthusiastic about their daughter’s naval ambitions. After graduating from Honesdale High School, Hofer spent a year drifting through the workforce, all the while knowing she was best-suited for the Navy. In 1988, against her parents’ wishes, she enlisted. After seeing how she excelled in the military, their reservations quickly transitioned from fear to pride.
Though she admittedly didn’t enjoy school, Hofer (then Pretty) performed strongly on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Selected as an Operations Specialist, her duties included a combination of intelligence, radar, and communications. As she awaited an official posting, Hofer was based in San Diego, California, supporting the Navy Seabees. Then orders to report to the USS Acadia (AD-42) arrived. The timing wasn’t ideal, as she had just given birth to her first daughter. Leaving her two-month-old to her family’s care, she boarded the maintenance support ship destroyer tender for an eight-month deployment. Throughout her four years with the USS Acadia (AD-42), she was mobilized to the Persian Gulf twice during the height of Operation Desert Storm.
Following the decommissioning of USS Acadia (AD-42), Petty Officer Second Class Pretty became part of the historic first group of women assigned to the destroyer USS John Young (DD-973); a combatant ship. Seeking proximity to family ahead of a potential deployment, she requested an East Coast duty station, finishing her service at the Military Entrance Processing (MEPS) station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Petty Officer Second Class Pretty became part of the historic first group of women assigned to the destroyer USS John Young (DD-973); a combatant ship. Photo Credit: Matt Ebbers
After eight years of active duty, it was time for Hofer to embrace her post-Naval second act. As she contemplated following her sister into nursing, her mother jumped in to offer her two cents: “You’re obsessed with teeth! Go be a dentist or a dental assistant!”
“I did love teeth, but I didn’t think that I could raise my child on a dental assistant’s salary, and I didn’t have the means to go to college for eight years to become a dentist,” Hofer explained. “A Navy friend’s wife was a dental assistant, and she told me about the cool, professional auxiliary role of a dental hygienist. I was all ears!”
Since Google had yet to enter the world, Hofer researched dental hygiene programs the good old-fashioned way — by asking local dentists. Her findings boiled down to two schools: Luzerne County Community College in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, and SUNY Broome, then known as BCC. She completed her prerequisites, applied to both programs, and waited by the mailbox. SUNY Broome’s acceptance letter was the first to arrive. Just days later, more exciting news followed — Hofer and her husband were expecting a baby!
“Classes started the last Monday in August, and I delivered my daughter that Thursday. Luckily, it was a long weekend, so I was back in class that Tuesday,” Hofer reflected. “I was offered the option to complete the first year of the program in two years, as part of a medical leave accommodation. I had a brand new baby, a seven-year-old, and an hour and a half commute to campus each way — but if there’s a will, there’s a way.”
As clinical licensure board exams and graduation approached, Dr. Robert Haray, DDS, a general dentist in Damascus, PA, reached out to the dental hygiene program to see if any soon-to-be graduates would be willing to work in Pennsylvania. Hofer met with Dr. Haray, and graduated with a job offer in hand.
“I saw patients three days a week, in ten-hour days,” Hofer explained. “That part-time schedule gave me the flexibility to be the classroom mom for my daughters, while still being able to contribute to our household. There are so many benefits to a career as a dental hygienist. The profession is high-paying, family-friendly, and so rewarding.”
Still guided by the growth mindset instilled during her military service, Hofer set her sights on her next professional goal. Encouraged by her husband, she pursued advanced education in her current field, earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Dental Hygiene from the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Hofer then launched her third act as professor of dental hygiene, teaching online for the University of Bridgeport, serving as a clinical instructor at New York University (NYU), and as a faculty member at SUNY Orange. Though she appreciated each institution, she couldn’t help but compare them to the gold standard set by her alma mater. In 2016, she leapt at the chance to return to the hallowed halls of the Decker Health Science Center’s Dental Hygiene Clinic as a clinical instructor. The following year, after going through a national search process, she was offered a full-time faculty position, and with that, many of the talented women who had first trained her, became her peers.
(It did take her a while to stop calling her fellow faculty members “Mrs. Hankin and Mrs. Maier.”)
Proving that you can’t take the Navy out of the girl, Hofer mentors her hygiene students with the same level of attention and preparedness that she would as if they were junior sailors. Though the specifics of their service differ, they are equally vital.
“People often don’t realize how clinically deep and medically connected the role truly is, doing far more than just cleaning teeth. Dental hygiene students complete prerequisite coursework comparable to that of nursing programs, and serve as a vital part of the healthcare team,” Hofer explained. “Preparing for this level of responsibility requires significant academic rigor, but it is absolutely worth it.”
Learn more about SUNY Broome’s Dental Hygiene A.A.S. program!
Professor Hofer loves being back at her alma mater in SUNY Broome’s Dental Hygiene Clinic. Photo Credit: Matt Ebbers
Tags: Alumni, Dental Hygiene AAS, Diversity, Health Sciences Division, Profile, Veterans & Military Affairs Office, Women's History Month
