Why I Went Back to School for Massage Therapy at 51

If you had told me a few years ago that at 51 I would be back in school studying massage therapy, I probably would have laughed. For nearly 30 years, dentistry was what I knew. I spent most of those years as a dental hygienist, and I truly loved taking care of my patients. I thought that was where I would stay until retirement. Life, however, had other plans.

My Years in Dentistry

I learned a lot throughout my dental career. I developed good relationships with my coworkers and my patients. So many patients were nervous and unsettled when they came to me. I picked up the habit of chatting with them while I got them through their appointments. It distracted and relaxed them, but it also gave me time to actually get to know them.

Over the years, I learned about my patients’ marriages, grandchildren, illnesses, losses, work stress, caregiving, and the ups and downs of ordinary life. I learned how important it is to make someone feel comfortable when they are feeling vulnerable.

Most importantly, I learned to listen.

I wasn’t only looking at teeth all those years. I was watching people.

Something I Began Noticing

Over time, I began seeing how life showed up physically in people. Stress wasn’t just something patients talked about. Their shoulders were up around their ears. Their jaws were clenched. Their necks hurt. Grief, caregiving, work, worry, and exhaustion seemed to settle into the body.

I began to understand that people don’t leave the rest of their lives at the door when they come in for an appointment. We carry our lives with us.

Stress, grief, worry, long workdays, and years of taking care of everyone else can show up in the way we hold our shoulders, clench our jaws, breathe, move, and even rest.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I think those observations planted some of the earliest seeds for where I am today.

When Dentistry Changed for Me

Eventually, the profession of dentistry changed, my work environment changed, and the demands no longer lined up well with how I wanted to care for people.

I still wanted to care for people. I just didn’t know if dentistry was where I wanted to do it anymore.

I prayed and thought about this for several years. For almost six years, I worked for an amazing dentist and his staff at the front desk. I missed patient care, but I also knew that if I left, I would be leaving the best dental team I had ever worked with. They were, and still are, dear friends that I was so lucky to do life with.

The thought of change was painful and a bit scary.

The Idea of Massage Therapy

Around this time, I was also starting to have issues with my hands and wrists. Arthritis was creeping up on me, along with some repetitive-use injuries that were bothering me. My symptoms didn’t really line up with carpal tunnel syndrome, so I did what I tend to do when I want to understand something.

I researched.

During this time, I completed some online courses and dipped my toe into other areas of business. I also happen to have three besties who love and support me in whatever I decide to do. Between them and a mentor and dear friend, I had people around me who believed in me even when I wasn’t sure what came next.

One of those friends, Kim, is a retired massage therapist. She kept talking to me about going back to school for massage therapy. She told me not to look anywhere else. If I was going to do this, I needed to talk to Paulette at the Universal College of Healing Arts in Omaha.

So I made the phone call.

It just clicked.

I liked and respected Paulette immediately. I filled out the paperwork while a steady stream of questions ran through my head.

Could I really go back to school? Could I afford it? Could I learn all this anatomy again? Could I actually build a business?

Was I completely nuts?

Next came a FaceTime tour of the school. I even fell in love with the building itself.

Finally, I decided to just do it. What was the worst that could happen? I had been rejected plenty of times in my life. I could survive that.

The really scary thing would be if I got accepted.

That really scary thing happened.

I was accepted.

Becoming a Student Again at 51

Walking into UCHA on orientation day was terrifying. I was old! All my new classmates looked like teenagers and twenty-somethings. I could be their mother.

Then an amazing thing happened.

My cohorts liked me!

Over that first semester, we became a tight group of friends. They have even given me the nicknames Madame President and Grizzly Mama. I decided I could live with that.

The amount of anatomy and kinesiology I had to learn was intimidating. I wondered if my brain still worked the way it used to.

Christa, age 51, First Day of School, UCHA Omaha, NE. I want to be a massage therapist when I grow up. I love books, nature, and scrapbooking.

Massage 101 was fascinating, though, and the hands-on practice came fairly easily to me. After years in dentistry, I was already comfortable working closely with people. I also remembered more anatomy and physiology than I expected. The online learning is interactive and conversational, which works well for me.

I actually enjoy studying.

There have been nights when I’ve asked my husband, James, “Do you want a clean house or cooked food?”

Food wins every time.

He has become pretty good about helping in the kitchen. Both my sons and my husband have handled this year of schooling with a great deal of grace and patience.

Body mechanics has been more challenging. My muscles remember how I performed dental hygiene, and they still want to put me right back into that habitual stance when I’m massaging. I work on my stance every time I’m in clinic. I’ve had some sore muscles along the way, but ironically, my hands and wrists feel great. I’m no longer doing the same repetitive work I did in dentistry.

I spend many evenings studying after I cook supper. I’ve given up quite a few things for this year of school. I pulled out of my two book clubs, which was hard because I miss my book friends. I canceled my TV and app subscriptions, and I’ve had to lower my standards for housekeeping.

Having grace and patience with myself has become an ongoing self-improvement project.

Then, in June, I reached my first BIG hurdle. We had to test out on Swedish massage therapy in practicum, along with semester testing in Massage 101, Anatomy and Physiology, and our other classes.

And somewhere along the way, I remembered something.

I was kinda smart.

I have always loved learning new things, and massage therapy and the human body absolutely fascinate me.

Semester 1 finals day, June 2026

Massage Therapists Aren’t Fixers

One of the biggest lessons massage school has taught me is that my job isn’t to “fix” another person’s body.

That idea has changed the way I think about care.

A massage therapist works with the client and supports the body. The client is still the expert on their own body.

Paulette has also helped me realize something else: I didn’t really leave dentistry behind. I brought it with me.

What Dentistry Gave Me

I am not beginning again from zero.

Dental hygiene gave me a foundation in anatomy, infection control, professionalism, documentation, privacy, and working closely with the human body. It taught me how to work one-on-one with people and how to care for someone who is nervous or uncomfortable.

Most importantly, it gave me decades of experience listening to people and learning how to meet them where they are.

I am new to massage therapy, but I am not new to caring for people.

That realization has helped me see my career change differently. Nearly 30 years in dentistry weren’t a detour from where I’m going. Those years are part of what I’m bringing with me.

Where Quiet Prairie Comes In

As I’ve learned more about massage therapy, I’ve realized that I want to create a place in my area where people can slow down.

Somewhere that doesn’t feel clinical or make people nervous. Somewhere ordinary people can come when they have everyday stress, tired muscles, aches, or simply a lot going on in their lives.

I also want wellness to feel realistic.

No perfect diets. No punishing workouts. And absolutely no 37 wellness rules before breakfast.

I want to help people find the things that nourish them. For me, that includes rest, movement I enjoy, nourishing whole foods, sleep, gratitude, nature, faith, and relationships. These are some of the ways I care for the body, mind, and soul I’ve been given.

For me, massage fits into that bigger picture.

I don’t know exactly what Quiet Prairie will look like five or ten years from now. Right now, I’m still a student. I’m learning, practicing, asking questions, and occasionally staring at an anatomy book wondering how one human body can possibly contain this many muscles.

But I do know why I’m here.

After nearly 30 years in dentistry, I haven’t stopped caring for people.

I’m simply learning a new way to do it.

And for now, that feels like a pretty good place to begin. Follow me as I share my journey through school in my Massage Therapy Blog