Written By: Dionne Lucas, Director of Donor Communications
When Jewet Stefanos receives her first white coat at Meharry Medical College, she will begin a journey shaped by family legacy and a commitment to service.
Stefanos grew up moving frequently because of her father’s career in the U.S. Navy. Born in Nashville, she lived in several places before her family settled in Maryland, which she considers home. She also spent all four years of high school in Naples, Italy, an experience she describes as transformative. Her connection to dentistry, however, began much closer to home. Her father, a Meharry graduate and orthodontist, came to the United States as a refugee and went on to build a distinguished career in dentistry, providing care to some of the nation’s most prominent leaders. His example gave his daughter an early view of what could be accomplished through education, perseverance and service to others.
While attending Penn State, Stefanos began creating her own path. As vice president of the university’s Operation Smile organization, she helped lead fundraising efforts that supported three cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries for children. The experience helped confirm that dentistry was where she belonged.
"We're just some random kids who wanted to change someone's life," Stefanos said.
Receiving her white coat will mark the beginning of a new chapter for Stefanos, but it also represents the trust patients will one day place in her and the responsibility that comes with earning that trust. The moment carries added meaning as she reflects on her father’s path from refugee to Meharry graduate and orthodontist and the sacrifices he made along the way. Years later, Stefanos is forging her own path at Meharry, carrying forward the values of perseverance and service that helped shape the legacy she inherits.
When Stefanos puts on her white coat for the first time, she will not simply be following in her father’s footsteps — she will be honoring the legacy that came before her while beginning to build one of her own.
