Hello! I’m so excited to be back and blogging my second year at the Ohio State College of Optometry! Already, second year is so different than first, in many positive ways. I felt immediately comfortable walking back into school– knowing where to go, how to get into my locker and mailbox, etc. I felt like I had taken a nice, long vacation for the summer and was refreshed and ready for the new school year. Returning to school also meant getting to see and hang out with my classmates again! The first week is so much fun because there are multiple social gatherings and picnics to welcome and meet the first year class.

So far, the best thing about second year is clinic lab. It’s the best feeling to be finally breaking out the equipment that has gone pretty much unused since purchasing it last semester and learning techniques while practicing on classmates. I already enjoy being in the beautiful new preclinic area while in dress clothes and our white coats (yay!) for lab. It makes me feel as if I’ll truly be an optometrist one day. Last year we learned the bulk of critical information that serves as the base for everything else we learn through the next three years. With the addition of preclinic lab, second year just makes my future seem like more of a reality even in the first few weeks.

First day of PreClinic lab!

I know this year is going to be difficult because I’ll have to balance practicing clinical skills with studying in the library but I’m looking forward to it. I’ll keep you updated on how long my super positive outlook lasts 🙂

It’s my favorite time of the year in Columbus—football season! Time to head to the library so I can watch the Buckeyes play Virginia Tech tonight! GO BUCKS!

Happy summer– So far, it’s been an exciting, travel-filled, relaxing summer break for me! I wanted to write this post to fill you guys in on my first trip to Optometry’s Meeting in Seattle at the end of June. I think I mentioned in my last post that Optometry’s Meeting is the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) annual national conference that consists of continuing education for doctors, special workshops for students and many entertaining eve

Me at the conference!

nts. I’m so happy I decided to go to the conference this summer. Not only did I visit the West Coast for the first time (no humidity, it’s wonderful) but I also caught a glimpse of what opportunities my profession will consist of once I step outside the doors of the college. Attending the conference allowed me to realize that optometry is a connected profession and I’ll be surrounded by future colleagues who are driven and dedicated to maintaining excellence in the optometric field.

One of my favorite events at the conference was probably the Varilux sponsored Student Bowl, a Jeopardy style game show featuring contestants from each optometry school! Bridget, the contestant from our school, was awesome—she was one of five students to make it to the finals! I had a blast cheering her on with the rest of our students and many of our professors too. Also, while in Seattle we were able to do a lot of sightseeing and exploring. One of my favorite parts of the trip was when a group of my classmates and I drove to Mt. Rainier National Park to hike for the day. The scenery was breathtaking and so was the hike! I won’t write about everything we did but I’ll post a lot of pictures for you to check out. I’ll catch up again once school starts and I am officially a second year student!

Tanner, Paula, Dee and I on top of the Space Needle

Cheering Bridget on at the Student Bowl

O-H-I-O with Mt. Rainier in the background!

It feels like just yesterday that I sat down to write my first post about orientation and the beginning of the school year. Now my first year of optometry school is complete! Even though there were some nights spent studying that felt as though they lasted years, it honestly flew by in the blink of an eye. It feels so strange to think of my classmates and myself as second years! I’m amazed when I reflect on everything I’ve learned this year and all the people I’ve met who’ve positively impacted my first year as an optometry student at Ohio State. I’m so lucky to have had this amazing opportunity to study at such an awesome school.

This past week we took our final course of the year called Keystone. The class allowed us to apply all the basic science knowledge we gained throughout the year to certain clinical cases. We worked in groups to “solve” the cases and present them to faculty members and teach other students the background knowledge behind certain causes for red eye, double vision, blurred vision and visual field losses. I really enjoyed getting to work with a group of my classmates to reinforce just how much we really know about the eye and the body as a whole even after one year.

After taking the Keystone final, we celebrated on Saturday with our White Coat Ceremony at the Ohio Union. This is a day that I think most of my class and I have been looking forward since the very beginning of the year. When I felt as though I couldn’t study any longer, I would look at the countdown to the ceremony I set in my phone and remind myself what all the hard work was for. Putting on that crisp, white coat for the very first time in front of my family and classmates was such an incredible memory and a feeling that I will never forget. I’m so excited to mark this time as a transition from solely didactic coursework into the beginnings of clinical care. I am so proud of my classmates and I for getting to this point in our optometric career—you rock Class of 2018!

As for summer, I am really looking forward to relaxing and having a small break from classes. I’m planning on working in an optometry office, enjoying beautiful weather with friends and to travel a lot. I’m especially excited to be going to the American Optometric Association’s national conference, Optometry’s Meeting, in Seattle with a group of my classmates. Exploring a new city while also getting to network with doctors and sit in on continuing education courses- what more could you ask for?! I’ll let you know how that goes at the end of June!

As for now, thanks for reading along as I navigated my way through the first year of optometry school. Not only was it a year of learning so much about the eye and optics and clinical coursework but even about myself. For any prospective students out there, I hope my posts shed a little bit of light on what it’s like to be in optometry school and that it’s an achievable goal—keep working hard! One fact I know for sure after this year is that it’s definitely worth it. I can’t wait to continue to share my experiences with everyone as I move on to my second year at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. As always… Go Bucks!

Thanks mom and dad!

My sisters have been such great supporters of me through everything!

The Class of 2018 looks great in white 🙂

Dee, Jenna and I in our white coats!

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since my last blog post because not much has been going on in February except midterms and snowy, winter weather. However, on Valentine’s Day, I attended the American Optometric Student Association’s (AOSA) EyeBall along with many other optometry students of all classes, their guests and many professors too! The EyeBall (great name, I know 🙂 ) is an annual formal event held at a beautiful hall downtown to celebrate the year so far. There was wonderful food, dancing and even student selected awards for classmates and professors. It was so much fun and something I will look forward to every year now.

A group of Opt I’s at the EyeBall!

My roommate and fellow first year, Dee, and I at the EyeBall, too!

Today I’m going to write my post throughout the day to give you a little idea of what daily life is like for a first year! This will just be a little insight into what my classmates and I spend our days doing but isn’t representative of exactly what everyone does. Wednesdays are more of a class-heavy day compared to others so not everyday is exactly like this either. Today I got up nice and early to eat breakfast and start my post because we start class at 8 am. I’m running a little late (as usual!) so luckily the college is a short walk from my apartment. On to the first class, Optics of the Eye!

Break time! In between each class we have about ten minutes free to get coffee or a snack, chat, ask our professors questions or regroup before the next class. There are places very close to the college to run for food and drinks, including the new hospital cafeteria, Bistr-OH! or the Starbucks in the Prior Health Sciences Library. I’m updating my posts in our little breaks today. I also wrote a little bit of this post while hanging out in the new student lounge. It is now one of my favorite places in the school because it has nice comfy chairs and awesome new Ohio State and optometry artwork!

Back to class… this morning, after Optics we have Pathophysiology for two hours and then an hour of Epidemiology and Bio Statistics. After these lectures, we had a short class meeting and then an hour break for lunch. I usually go home for lunch because I live close and don’t usually get up with enough time to pack! On days where there are information sessions or when I have clinic in the afternoon I’ll pack and eat in the lunchroom, like many other students.

After lunch we have two one-hour classes, Physical Optics & Photometry and Ocular Physiology. On certain weeks, such as this one, I have lab for Optics of the Eye for two hours. We don’t have this lab every week but instead, spread out throughout the semester. I like going to lab because it is hands-on and really helps demonstrate the topics we are learning in class, often in a clinical or real-life setting.

After lab, I did a quick workout I found on Pinterest, ate dinner and then headed to the library for a couple hours. Even though we don’t have any exams this week, I like to go to the library to keep on top of the material and also because I don’t usually stay on task if I study at home! After the library, I had some time to go get ice cream with my roommates, watch Netflix and relax at the end of the day. I hope this helped you realize that being an optometry student is manageable and not like everyday is a crazy studying marathon. It’s a lot of hard work and dedication, yes, but also very rewarding. Thanks for reading along throughout my day; hope you had a good one too!

WE MADE IT! My very first semester of optometry school is complete. I’m writing this post from the comfort of home in between making cookies and wrapping presents! It feels so nice to relax, visit with family and enjoy the holidays after a long and strenuous finals week.

Compared to undergrad, optometry school finals week was a much more daunting and stressful time. With two practicals the week before and five exams during actual finals week, it felt like a marathon of studying! We learned so much over the entire semester that it seemed impossible to be able to study and remember all the topics covered the past four months. It took a lot of dedication, motivation (and coffee) but it was definitely possible. All of the hard work and hours at the library were worth it when all the tests were finally over and we received the last of our official final grades today. Also, before everyone went home for the semester, we made sure to celebrate being done with not just our class, but also those above us! It was a blast and the perfect way to end the semester.

Throughout gearing up for finals, we continued to have meetings for various groups, including our SocialEyes get-togethers. SocialEyes is a new program this year where a professor at the college volunteers to lead a group of first years and organize various fun meetings outside of school. My group, led by Dr. Walline, is called EyeCandy! We even have really cool matching t-shirts with our group name on them. Two meetings ago, we met for dinner and I tried Indian cuisine for the very first time! SocialEyes is a really cool program and I look forward to continuing it after break.

The EyeCandy group enjoying Indian food! From the back left: Max, Dr. Walline, Me, Cory, Casey, Elham, Paula, Nick and Libby!

Although finals week was arduous, the most important thing I realized was that all of the studying throughout the semester kept me on track and allowed me to solidify material during finals week and not just cram at the end. This semester was challenging and a lot of hard work but so rewarding and an awesome experience. I’m looking forward to the rest of this much-needed break and traveling to New Orleans to cheer on the Buckeyes in their playoff game at the Sugar Bowl! Wishing everyone a safe and joyous holiday! Thanks for reading along during my first semester of professional school–I can’t wait to see what 2015 will bring!

Hi everyone! It’s been a busy few weeks since the last time I made a post! I feel like I’ve been living at the health sciences library preparing for all the exams we’ve had recently. Our class had five exams over a span of nine days. (Yikes!) But we made it through and now we are on the home stretch of the semester with really only finals as our next big chunk of exams. This semester has flown by in the blink of an eye! I really seems like it was just yesterday that we started classes.

On October 25^th, the college held its annual Open House for prospective students and their families to come check out our program and talk to faculty and current students, including me! At the open house, I assisted the doctor I participated in research with during undergrad in explaining the ongoing studies to students. It was so exciting to be able to explain what we do at the lab at COSI, the science center downtown. We also were able to use some of the imaging equipment to show students a structure inside their eyes!

I also have continued to find time to relax and take a break from studying every once and a while! A couple weeks ago I went to the optometry fraternity house, Epsilon Psi Epsilon (aka EYE) for their “When I Grow Up” event. We were supposed to dress up as what we wanted to be as kids and so I dressed up as a dolphin trainer! It was fun to see everyone’s creative childhood dreams. Last weekend I also was able to go to my second Buckeyes game! It was a cold one against Illinois but it was also a lot of fun. I was so happy to be back in the Shoe, cheering for my team!

Me, Mike, Amber, Paula and Tanner in the front middle at “When I Grow Up” at EYE!

Right now, I’m realizing that I need to stay on top of all our material as finals are approaching in just over a month. I’m also really looking forward to Thanksgiving break and the ability to see my whole family and many of my friends that I haven’t seen in a while! Also, there are only twenty days until the Buckeyes meet with That Team Up North for one of the most exciting rivalries in college football!

After making it through the majority of my first semester of optometry school, I’ve realized that a positive outlook is the biggest key to success. I always try to remind myself that while school is challenging, it is going to be so rewarding and I am lucky to be able to study what I am passionate about!

The first four midterm exams of my optometry school career are complete! It was such a great feeling once I realized that all the hard work and hours of studying from the get-go were so worth it. While it was a stressful and busy two weeks, it was definitely manageable and helped me learn effective strategies for successful test taking in the future. As a class, we now have a short little intermission until our next round of midterms. This past weekend many of my classmates and I celebrated the completion of our first exams and had a blast! It was nice to be able to relax a little bit while still putting in some study time.

Also this week, Student Council held the elections for our class officers. We voted on twelve different positions including President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. I decided to run for one of the two Class Representative positions and am excited to say that I will be holding the position for the next four years! I am really thrilled to have been elected to serve and represent the Class of 2018 and look forward to not only helping the other officers of my class but also the entire college.

On a final note, I am going home to Youngstown this weekend for the first time since August! I can’t wait to be able to visit with my family! So far this semester it has been hard to go home because I’ve been so busy with studying on the weekends. Although I’ve learned from undergrad that it’s usually difficult to motivate yourself to study when you visit home, I know I’ll have to set up a plan to ensure I get some work done (while also playing with my puppy and visiting the nearby fruit farm for fun fall activities!)

I’m going to leave you with a list of some of the simple yet important things I’ve learned so far as an optometry student. Here it goes:

1. I try to study a couple different topics every night. It’s too overwhelming to try to master one entire subject each day.
2. Sometimes my brain is so full of information at the end of a long day of class it’s hard to go right into studying. I’ve learned it’s okay to take a 20-minute break to let yourself unwind before looking at material again!
3. Exercise and eating regular meals are really important to designate time to. I’ve found that the breaks to eat meals or to exercise really energize me and keep me motivated afterward.
4. Continue to do what you like to do! If you like to play catch with a friend to relax, go out and do that. If you enjoy watching a particular reality or weekly TV show with friends, do that! If you like to meet up with a friend for coffee and chat, meet for coffee. I’ve learned that it’s okay to take a small break each week to enjoy myself and stay sane.
5. It helps to Call/Facetime/Text my parents and other family members or friends when I’m feeling stressed or down. They are usually pretty good at cheering me up!

That’s all I have for now, thanks for reading!

Hi guys! I left off my last post with the College of Optometry’s Centennial Celebration and wanted to tell you a little bit more about how that went. On the night of the 5^th, the Archie Griffin Ballroom was packed with around 850 Ohio State Optometry alumni, faculty and students. It was the largest gathering I have ever seen at the Union! It was a really wonderful night filled with entertainment, delicious food, talking with classmates and their friends and hearing from important alumni. We capped off the celebration with a performance by the “Bad Habits: The Official Eye Docs of Rock,” an all optometrist rock group. This was the first time I had heard them but most people attending knew of them because they play at many vision expos and meetings across the country. I loved ending the night by singing and dancing along with my classmates and other students! Here’s a picture of many of my classmates and I looking fancy at the Centennial!

Class of 2018 at the Centennial Celebration

The real date of the centennial was September 16^th. That day in class, Dean Zadnik gave us a little bit of history about the profession of optometry as a whole and our program here at Ohio State. Did you know that optometry has its roots in the jewelry business? I didn’t until the other day! Dean Zadnik explained the evolution of the profession from the days of traveling opticians to the legislative fight in Ohio for therapeutics to the current scope of optometry that our class will learn to practice! It was amazing to think how much the career has changed in these 100 years. We also learned that the College of Optometry started as a branch of the Physics Department back in 1914 called Applied Optics. She read us some excerpts from the original course manual and we realized how different the program was when it started from how it is now.

So class- wise, things are really starting to pick up. Next week we have our first two midterms in Anatomy and Optics and then have one or two tests almost every week after. I have been studying a lot all week to prepare for them. I’m spending a lot of time this weekend studying too but I wanted to write a post during a study break J Unfortunately, I had to sell my ticket to the home game this weekend. As an Ohio State undergraduate, I went to every home game so it has been an adjustment for me to realize that I might not be able to make it to every single one due to upcoming tests. However, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any time for fun. I’ve learned that if you plan your week ahead and budget your time really well, you can make room for certain activities you really want to do. I did go to the game two weekends ago and it was such a great feeling being back in the ‘Shoe!’ Here are a couple pictures from the game against Kent State University!

Amber, Jessica, Heather and I at the Kent State game

Quadruple Script Ohio during the band’s halftime performance

Okay, now it’s time to get back to studying! Go Bucks!

The very first week of optometry school was one of the most exciting, informative, social and action-packed weeks of my life! It’s also something I’ve been looking forward to since receiving the terrific news last fall, informing me that I would have the awesome opportunity to spend another four years here at The Ohio State University.

I am an Ohio State Buckeye, through and through. Even as a very young girl growing up in Youngstown, Ohio I knew I wanted to attend Ohio State. As I became interested in optometry during the end of high school, my aspiration to attend Ohio State grew even more when I realized they had an optometry program. When I began as a freshman here, I immediately fell in love with everything about the university! The spirit and pride I felt (and still feel!) while walking around campus was overwhelming. The possibilities for involvement on campus were astounding! Through the Involvement Fair held on the Oval, I was able to find the Pre-Optometry Club and join! Hearing from practicing optometrists and current students at the meetings was critical in deepening my interests and knowledge on the career of optometry. Through Pre-Optometry Club, I met so many people with similar interests who became my friends! I also was involved other extracurricular activities like the Club Swim Team and Delta Omega Kappa, Ohio State’s Pre-Health Sorority, in which I served as the Recruitment Chair during my senior year!

During undergrad, I was able to participate in research through the College of Optometry. As a pre-optometry student, this was one of the most enriching and exciting parts of my undergrad career! Not only did I learn about the purpose of the study and the optometric equipment used but I also got to meet more students interested in entering the field of optometry. Six other students that I did research with are now in the Class of 2018 along with me!

A mixture of nerves and anticipation kept me up the night before orientation. I was so excited to meet my future classmates and meet some faculty members! Walking up to Fry Hall for the first day, I immediately noticed the newest additions to the outside of the building, a giant Brutus wearing glasses and an enormous eye chart. They instantly put a smile on my face and filled me with that Buckeye pride! The presentations by the Student Affairs were so informative and provided me with information and resources at Ohio State that I was unaware of before. The faculty members we heard from were welcoming, humorous, approachable and eager to express that help with coursework is always available. Everything I heard during the first two days really put me at ease and helped realize that I’d never be left to struggle alone. I have been having so much fun getting to know my classmates. I look forward to spending the year with them and sharing a special bond as a class.

Throughout the week were many planned social events to not only get to better know my classmates but also second, third and even some fourth year students! Every event was so well planned and so much fun! The upperclassmen I met were all extremely friendly and willing to chat, give advice and answer any questions I had!

Also, as a class we participated in the first ever interprofessional orientation program, “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life.” Students in health sciences and professional/graduate programs such as medicine, physical and occupational therapy, nursing, pharmacy, veterinary medicine and many more were involved. As a group we discussed the role of each profession in regards to health care. We also discussed the book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman. Through reading the book we were able to develop in-depth conversations on the importance of cultural competency in healthcare. Overall, the program was extremely rewarding and I’m glad I got to be a part of the very first group!

We officially started classes on Wednesday, August 27^th in Fry 22! Again, I was nervous but ready to start learning again! Right away I noticed a change in the way I felt as each course was presented; I was going to be learning about everything I am completely interested in! This week is already building the foundation for the rest of my career. As they stressed during orientation, our time in the optometry world starts now, even as students. I know that this is going to be a difficult year, filled with hours in the library and worry and stress, but I know that it is going to be completely worth it!

During this past week a very exciting and unforgettable fact was often mentioned. This year, the College of Optometry will be celebrating “100 years of great vision!” On Friday September 5^th, faculty, alumni, and students commemorated this monumental achievement at the Centennial Celebration. (I’ll tell you more about how it went very soon!) All week, the college was abuzz with anticipation for the gala! Fun and festivities aside, I am very honored and proud to be part of sharing in this milestone with the many other intelligent and successful optometrists who as of this week are now my colleagues. This is more than a celebration of 100 years of existence but of the innumerous service, dedication and advancements that The Ohio State College of Optometry has provided throughout this time. Now more than ever, I am so proud to be a Buckeye.