Tyra says “I’m not wearing these glasses because I have any underlying vision issues. I’m wearing these glasses so I can see myself twice as hard. That’s how glasses work, right?”

In May of 2003, Tyra Bank’s massive ego gave birth to an over the top display of self adoration, cleverly disguised as a modeling show titled America’s Next Top Model. The show involves models crying over the difficulties of walking a straight line, cutting their hair, and struggling to live surrounded by other people as shallow as themselves, all while Tyra Banks contemplates her immortality and feigns interest in the aspiring models’ grief. I find that after a week of intense mental stress (ie: finals) it is nice to turn off the brain for a week and immerse myself in a passive activity with no consequences or substance. This past week, I have celebrated my successful completion of the first semester of optometry college by binge watching America’s Next Top Model on Hulu. Although my brain was confused at the abrupt change in pace from learning about thyroid issues to learning about how eye contact at the end of the runway is essential for creating that special photo opportunity, it has been nice to decompress. Aside from watching trashy reality television from over a decade ago, I’ve also decided to reflect on my first semester of Optometry school. There have been lots of successes, but also a lot of areas where I can improve. For one thing, no situation ever warranted the amount of stress or anxiety that I experienced. The professors were always fair and my classmates were supportive and friendly. Being in a high pressure situation for long periods of time can sometimes lead to paranoia. I’ll try to remember that for next semester when I experience irrational fear that everyone is congregating after hours in some vast conspiracy to set me up for failure. Another valuable lesson I learned from my first semester is that grades, while important, are not the most important thing. Learning and understanding the material is so much more important. If I get an A from cramming the material, but I ultimately forget everything I learned, that is less ideal than receiving a lower grade but ultimately remembering everything. As hard as it is, I’m going to stop focusing so much on grades and more on if I really understand everything. That will ultimately make me a better doctor in the long run and eliminate some of the anxiety that accompanies the quest for a perfect GPA. Over the next two weeks it will be nice to continue to think about ways to make my next semester even more successful, but perhaps, even more exciting is the prospect of continued uninterrupted viewing of trashy television. Two weeks is actually quite a bit of time and some may (foolishly) argue that television is not the most important thing in the world; so, I look forward to doing a wide variety of enriching and fulfilling activities. Maybe I’ll make a muppet, go rock climbing, bowling, take a trip to the zoo or write a short story! I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do for the next two weeks, but I’ll figure it out . . . after another episode of models screaming at each other because someone ate someone else’s grocery item without their permission. Maybe two episodes.