Here I am presenting “Sammy Safe Eyes” to a very eager Kindergarten class at Columbus Prepatory Academy. It was so exhilarating to see the kids become just as excited about their eyes as I am!

Here is Nick (you should check out his blog also) and I after our Slit Lamp Practical this morning.

So to say that the semester is in full swing is an understatement!! A lot has happened since my last post but we have just been going non-stop that I haven’t had a chance to give an update. We are currently in the middle of our first round of midterms. This week we had two exams, a quiz, this morning I had my Slit Lamp Practical, then we have exams on Monday and Tuesday of next week, and then…. we can catch our breath (and catch up on a little sleep) before we start round two of exams the following week. Therefore this week has been quite the whirlwind and I am very relieved to have the weekend here to relax a little, but prepare for our next two exams.

This semester is different than anything that I have had before because we are in class and studying our usual coursework but we also have three labs where we are learning the techniques to perform a full eye examination and adjust glasses. This means that when we are not studying we are usually in the Pre-Clinic practicing our retinoscopy and slit lamp skills. This has been fun though because I am working with my classmates who are also my closest friends. We are constantly helping each other to learn and perfect our new skills. I had my first skills practical this morning (of many more that I will take over the next three years) over a slit lamp examination. We have all been practicing a lot over the past week which made me less nervous for my actual practical and I felt like it went pretty well. Our next practical will be over retinoscopy (an objective measurement of the prescription needed for an eye) in a few weeks and we will now be focusing on perfecting our skills for that practical.

Also like I have mentioned before, I am participating this entire year as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow with my project in Optometry. It was through this program that I implemented my project this past summer of doing vision screenings on middle school aged kids. And now throughout the year I am continuing my project by presenting a program called Realeyes through the Ohio Optometric Association. This is a program designed to educate Kindergarten-8th graders about their eyes and the importance of going to the Eye Doctor. On Monday I had the opportunity to present to 150 kindergarteners at Columbus Prepatory Academy and had the best time!! It was exciting to see them be so interactive in learning about their eyes. I am looking forward to presenting more of these programs throughout the year.

But even through all of the stress, I can think about how happy I am to be here and excited to be having these experiences. It is very rewarding as we are starting to learn and master the skills that we will be using the rest of our lives.

Well that was a long enough study break for me and it is time to get back to work! I’ll be back to update soon.