NSU CDM Lasting Impressions Fall 2018

30 | COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE For years, mutual friends at the College of Dental Medicine (CDM) urged Andrew Haidet and Whitney Howard to date, universally struck by how perfect the two were for each other. Haidet and Howard were, as one friend put it, “the same person”— born leaders, go-getters, known for helping others and bringing friends together—the kind of people who made those around them smile. Only two people initially disagreed that they were a match in those early years at the dental college: the couple. “We were both dating other people, and he was always my mentor and a really good friend. I never thought of him in that way,” she said. “And then he started pursuing a relationship with me.” Today, Andrew Haidet, D.M.D., and Whitney [Howard] Haidet, D.M.D., are off to a strong start in proving their friends right. One year after their Naples, Florida, wedding, and just a few years into their careers, they make a powerful pair. Each leads a thriving dental practice in the Southwest Florida area. He works at Gulf Shore Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, while she is at Complete Dentistry of Estero. Together, they are debt-free, having paid off nearly $700,000 in combined student loans within their first three years or so of graduating from dental school. Their personal lives are a testament to their caring, fun-loving spirits. They adopted two rescue cats—an orange tabby named Blue and a gray tabby named Howie. They have their own idea of couples therapy, which involves exercising their shared competitive streak on the coed kickball field and the fantasy football bracket, though she often beats him in their March Madness bets. They honeymooned in Greece and vacationed in Hawaii. This fall, they’ll head to Spain, and every Independence Day, they meet up with about 18 to 20 fellow CDM alumni on trips to locales like New York City, New York, and Amelia Island or Key West, Florida. And, they’re still leaders and go-getters, bringing friends together and making people smile. Only now, they do it as a couple. THE BOND BEGINS The concept of being a couple seemed foreign to the two avid Gator fans when they met Halloween of 2009, while tailgating with mutual friends at a University of Florida (UF) football game. A recent graduate of UF’s Bonded for Life Alumni Thrive on Being Leaders, Concentrating on Careers BY NICOLE STERGHOS BROCHU Whitney Haidet’s rapport with her patients echoes back to her lifelong goals of leadership and giving back. ALUMNI IMPRESSIONS ALUMNI Impressions