Oh How Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

Oh How Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

We are now in our 7th full week of classes and I just can’t seem to believe it. Time is passing by so quickly I feel like I am running to keep up with myself. A look into my daily life so far has been on Monday-Thursday I am in class from roughly 8a.m.-12p.m. We then get a lunch break of which I am fortunate enough to live so close to the school that I can walk home with my other three roommates (who are also Optometry Students), this has been a big money saver and a relaxing little break away from the school. We are then back in class on average between 1-4p.m. I have a busy four days in a row because I do not have any labs on Fridays. Sure this may sound great, no class on Friday right? Well, I thought so at first, instead I now treat it as though I am still in class and go to the library from 9a.m.-4p.m. (at least 4 but usually much later). In the evenings I go home with my roommates for dinner and then usually head back to Prior Health Sciences Library for the remainder of the evening. This may sound daunting at first glance but now that I am living it, I truly love it!

This excitement for what I am living right now stems from three different components of which are my friends/classmates, the professors, and the material. First of all, I have found such a great support system of friends within my class that has been truly amazing. We seem to do everything together from eating meals, walking to and from the library, motivating each other to study, and reviewing with each other. The second reason is the great professors that we have. I said this in my first post but can truly confirm it now that they are all there to challenge us, help us succeed, but most importantly help us to truly understand the material. Each professor held numerous review sessions and one-on-one office hours prior to their exams and emphasized that they were willing to do whatever we needed to help us do well on their test. One of our professors even came in at 6:30a.m. for a review session since we had a full day of classes and wouldn’t be able to ask questions during the day. My final reason is simply the material. I can honestly say that each and every class is interesting and I have already seen how well the material builds on itself. I think back and compare these classes to my undergraduate ones where some of the classes I took applied to my interests in the health and biology field, but most of them did not. Here instead all of the classes are very applicable and interesting.

We have officially survived our first round of midterms meaning that we have taken one exam in all of our lecture classes. The preparation for the exams was stressful at first because I didn’t exactly know where to start in literally my pile of notes. But once I got going and found what methods worked for me, it all flowed pretty well. I was personally happy with my first round of grades and all of the professors seemed happy with our class averages and our study preparations leading up to the exam. This week we have a little breather as we do not have a test but instead we have to catch up on all of the material from our classes that was covered while we were studying for our first exams.

As I am starting to get the flow of schoolwork down, I am beginning to partake in organizations in the College to see what interests fit me the most. I have attended many of the Fellowship of Christian Optometrists (FCO) meetings, Private Practice Club (PPC) meetings, Lions Club and National Optometric Student Association Meetings (NOSA). These have all been great experiences so far as it has given me a chance to learn about the organizations while meeting upperclassmen who are always willing to give valuable advice. I also ran for and was voted in as the President of the Class of 2017. I am extremely honored to hold this position for all four years that we are in school. With this position I serve as a liaison between our class and the faculty, I will participate in the student council, and do various other tasks within the College.

Overall, time literally is flying by. The days go by so quickly because of our class schedule and the time while studying seems to go by even quicker. The weekends are literally a blink of an eye as there always seem to be events for one of the College organizations or of course, my favorite, Ohio State Football Games. The Ohio State Football game against Wisconsin two weeks ago was extremely exciting as it was the first football game at Ohio State that many of my classmates experienced. And yes I say experience because a football game in Ohio Stadium is definitely something to experience. The atmosphere is simply amazing. My friends all seemed to enjoy the game and I had fun teaching all of them the many game rituals and songs. I look forward to the three more games that we have in the shoe as they are great motivation to get ahead on studying so that we can enjoy game days.

In summary, even though time is passing by so quickly I am happy and excited about where I am at. I am very excited to have made it through my first big round of tests and ready to take on round #2. I am very honored and excited to start my duties as the President of my class. And I am happy to be having fun in everything that we do. Even though stress is a big factor in what we are currently feeling, it can be turned into fun when I am surrounded by my friends studying and doing what we love to do.