Hello and greetings from the post-practical world!

Nearly two hours ago, I finished my first practical of optometry school, and, after several days of sporatic studying, minor stressing, and slightly less than adequate amounts of sleep, it feels great to be done.

So how was it?

Coming from an undergraduate institution that had very few practicals and none involving tissue identification, I wasn’t entirely sure how to prepare for a test in which we had less than a minute to identify a structure/tissue.  The professors and upperclassmen suggested just simply looking at slides until the images began to make sense.

Well, I guess that’s sort of obvious.

And so that’s what I did.

I’m not one to study excessively as a rule, so I only looked over the slides once or twice before the week of the practical.  During the in-class review (thank Dr. Earley!), I realized that there were still several slides that I was unable to identify.  Thankfully, several powerpoints of slides had been compiled by other members of the class, which provided the perfect supplement to my own time spent in the lab. Around 5 hours of studying and a mock practical (created by the second years)  later, I felt ready.

Well, mostly ready anyway.  As with most tests, I began to question my knowledge of the material about two hours before the start of the material.  By that time though, the test was coming whether I was ready or not.  Huzzah..right?

During the practical itself, I admittedly panicked slightly.  After looking at the first slide 4 times, I still wasn’t sure what it was, but I wrote down an answer and continued on anyway.  About halfway through, I calmed down and finally settled into my groove.  Fifteen minutes later, the practical was over and we were free to either stay and check our answers or get out of there as fast as possible.  I chose to stay, and was admittedly pretty pleased with how I did.  To celebrate?  Naturally, I went outside to study and enjoy the beautiful almost 80 degree weather.

Which is where I currently find myself.

Good day?  I think yes.

‘Til the next time!

-Hannah

Note:  For those of you who were wondering, listening to lecture recordings during long drives works excellently!  Just be careful trying to verify your identity electronically while driving…

So, after two unsuccessful attempts to write this post, I’m back for a third try.  Hopefully, this time I’ll have the words to actually complete this entry 🙂

Anyway, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks here at The Ohio State University College of Optometry!  Last Monday’s Pathophysiology  exam marked the end of an intense week and a half of straight studying in preparation for our first round of midterms.  It felt so good to be done!!  Unfortunately, there was little time for celebration (though I did take one night off to go rock wall climbing, cook a delicious dinner, and binge watch TV), as I was already behind in studying material for the second midterm.

(Helpful Tip #1: Stay on top of the material.  Yes, it sucks to study every night, but this drastically reduces stress come test time.)

Thankfully, Monday also marked the beginning of Academy week!  During Academy week, literally all of the professors travel to the American Academy of Optometry’s (AAO) Conference, which was held in New Orleans this year.  As a result, our last class of the week ended shortly after 10:00 on Wednesday morning.  While it would have been smart to stay on campus and try to catch up on the material, I decided to trek home for the long weekend.

Needless to say, I didn’t really get much studying done.  I did, however, have a great time seeing my family, attending homecoming as a Trine University alum for the first time, and seeing Celtic Woman in concert.

Good trade-off? I’d say so.

(Helpful Tip #2: If you need to study, don’t go home.  This is a pretty obvious piece of advice, but it’s one that I cannot stress enough.  After all, I’m in my fifth year of college, and I still continue to find myself under the illusion that I will actually accomplish something when I’m not at school…)

This past week (since it’s now Friday… #latenightblogging), though not terribly eventful, still proved to be a bit hectic.  Between professors trying to fit as much new information as possible into lectures before fall break, to catching up on the material that I didn’t learn during Academy week and studying for our first practical, I found myself constantly busy, and honestly a bit overwhelmed.  My main strategy for studying for the first round of midterms was to know all the information going into midterms week.  How was I going to be able to keep on that path when I was already behind?  Especially in lieu of being home for multiple weekends in a row?

Thank God for lecture recordings.

(Helpful Tip #3: If you have to travel long distances and are afraid of getting behind, this tip is for you.  Check out the lecture recordings!  As far as I have discovered, they’re not currently available for download, but they can easily be streamed through a phone or iPad and listened to during the trip…which is my current plan for studying during the at least 15 hours of traveling that I will be doing in the next several days.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!)

Well, it’s getting later, and I should probably attempt to catch up on sleep sometime..

Happy Fall Break!

-Hannah

*Blogging afterthought: Well, it took me 14 hours, but this post is actually going to be published!