I have known that I wanted to become an Optometrist since I was a sophomore in high school. I am from a very rural farming village, called Hamler, in Northwest Ohio.  Therefore, when I moved to The Ohio State University as a freshman in College I was overwhelmed on many levels. The city brought about many changes apart from the University. I went from wide open farm fields to packed city highways. Then from the University perspective I was lost within the large campus. The many changes that I was experiencing brought about a homesick feeling that I never imagined I could experience. I can remember my first week at Ohio State like it was yesterday and often think back to that week and how much I have changed since then.

One week into freshman year I was still feeling very homesick, but I pushed myself to go to the Ohio State Pre-Optometry Club “Meet and Greet”. At this meeting I quickly met other students in all four years of undergrad and simply found my place at Ohio State. I had found so many similarities with these students and actually met some of my current best friends at that first meeting.  Through the Pre-Optometry Club at Ohio State I was given so many opportunities to hear from current Optometrists at the top of their field. I learned about all the different types of specialties and about the many different modes of practice that an Optometrist can do. I was also given many volunteer and research opportunities. It was also through this club that I found a job working in a Private Practice of Optometry only four weeks into my freshman year, of which I have now worked at for four years. This club solidified my dream of becoming an Optometrist and allowed me to learn and expand my future goals.

At Ohio State I also became involved in a Pre-Health Academic Sorority Delta Omega Kappa, Health Science Scholars, Honors and Scholars Ambassadors, and Serving with Honor. Within my four years of undergrad I held many leadership positions in these organizations such as President of the Pre-Optometry Club for two years, President of Delta Omega Kappa, and I was at the forefront of starting two clubs at Ohio State of which were First Generation Students at Ohio State and Eyes on Health, which is a Vision Service Organization with a Public Health focus. Through my involvement I quickly realized that I felt at “home” at Ohio State and quickly found myself not wanting to leave for the fear of missing out on some exciting event. This University is so large, yet it became so small, so quickly when I simply got involved. I promise that you too can find your place very easily and you can have the same feeling of home just as I do. When I am asked by prospective students why I attend The Ohio State University my answer is…. As a student in this community you gain a love for this University. You love being here, you miss it when you leave, and simply you find your home. It is often said around campus that “There’s No Place like hOme” in which the “O” in home is replaced with the famous block “O” symbol. So as I am reflecting on this past week of changes, once again I found myself telling many of my new classmates my answer to their question of “Why Ohio State?” I found that many of them, of which only moved here a week ago, have already found that same love and spirit for this university that I am excited to see grow over the next four years.

This past week was my Orientation Week for Optometry School at Ohio State. I have been dreaming of this week for 8 years now and it turned out being 10X better than I could’ve ever imagined. I had envisioned there would be lots of nervous feelings and unexpected things thrown our way… yet it was exactly the opposite of that.  The Office of Student Affair at Ohio State College of Optometry is simply wonderful. They emphasize over and over again how they are always there to help and this could not be truer. They started in early January sending out newsletters to the accepted students updating us on what was going on, deadlines that were coming up, and information of when things would get started. We received many newsletters keeping us updated all the way up until we started school. These were great to answer questions that I didn’t even know that I had and seemed to be one step ahead of what I was thinking about for school. Looking back I realize that these newsletters and the constant contact from the Office of Student Affairs helped me feel at ease with the changes I had coming at me and I felt prepared to start my first week of Optometry School. The first day was started off with hearing from our Dean of the College of Optometry Dean Melvin Shipp, followed by introductions from our professors, and introductions from other College personnel. One thing that was very evident from these introductions was how genuinely interested each and every faculty and staff member was in seeing us succeed. Each professor seemed so down to earth and emphasized how much they wanted to get to know us not only as students but as future colleagues. You could not only see, but feel their compassion that they have for teaching of which brought about such an inspiring feeling within me. The other Orientation events that took place on Monday and Tuesday were very helpful, even to me as a previous Ohio State student.

We then started our first official classes on Wednesday August 21^st in the newly remodeled classroom for First Year students. This was the same room that I had spent many hours in during undergrad because that is where the Pre-Optometry Club would meet for our meetings. It was funny to see many upperclassmen stop into the room and complain that they would not get to enjoy the nice new classroom. Wednesday evening though was the official Optometry School Welcome Dinner in the Ohio Union. We all got very dressed up and went to dinner with the distinguished faculty and staff from the College and truly had a great time getting to know everyone. This dinner was by far my highlight of Orientation week. (The photo that I have posted is of myself with eight of my amazing new friends and already best friends). We then continued on Thursday with day 2 of classes and were then set on our way as official 1^st Year Optometry Students.

This past week has been simply amazing getting to know my classmates so well. I have only known them for a week yet I feel like we are already as close as though a family is. I can see that we are all going to work together and support each other over these next four years and I know that I am going to come out with life-long friends. After completing my first week in Optometry School I have such a great feeling of support and excitement. I feel excitement for the fun that is to come with my amazing new friends and support from the amazing professors that we have the great privilege to be learning from. I completely understand that it is going to be very hard but I feel like they are truly going to prepare us for success and support us however we may need. But of all the range of emotions I have felt, I still feel that same feeling of hOme. I am comfortable, as happy as can be here at Ohio State, and am truly ready to dive into the next step in achieving my goal of becoming an Optometrist.