Month: October 2014

A lot has happened since my last post a mere three weeks ago. We’ve made it through our first full round of midterms (mostly unscathed thankfully) and round two quickly approaches next week. It’s remarkable how quickly it feels like the semester is going. Strictly counting the weeks, we’re just past the half way point in the semester. It really just felt like we started a month ago, not two. Crazy.

In spite of all the studying though, there has still been time to get out and do things around campus. One thing that has become apparent is that even though I do have to study a lot, there are times you need a break from school. So last weekend for the OSU vs. Rutgers game, I made it over to the football tailgate hosted by the school’s fraternity Epsilon Psi Epsilon (EYE, eye, optometry school, EYE – I think you get it). EYE hosts a tailgate at their house for every home football game and it was a nice chance to get away from school for a few hours, grab some food and drinks, and talk with some people from other class years as well.

Beyond that, I played on a co-ed sand volleyball team this fall. Sadly our season was cut short of the championship game, but we did extremely well by making the quarterfinals of the tournament! Perhaps to add insult to injury we got beat in the quarters by another optometry school team. It still was a lot of fun and we’re already planning for a repeat run next year.

Our class is also starting to get involved in organizations around the school. We had class elections a couple weeks back and I am happy to say I will be serving as the Class of 2018 Treasurer. Additionally, I know many people in my class are similarily getting involved with the wide variety of clubs the Ohio State Optometry offers. I just went to a Private Practice Club (PPC) meeting last night and we got to hear from a doctor who made some great points and provided excellent insights into the operations of a private practice. I think it was valuable information and look forward to picking the brains of numerous other doctors over the next three and a half years. I really appreciate all these opportunities Ohio State Optometry offers because, much like people like to say about undergrad, I think the education doesn’t end with the classes. Instead these programs, speakers, opportunities to travel to conferences, etc. are also part of the education and will help me be a great optometrist in a few years.

Between going to talks, playing volleyball, running for office, there is a lot a studying to be done. I pretty much need to be looking at something each night to keep up as best I can on the material. That way, I can get questions about material answered in a timely manner and I’m not trying to cram all the information ahead of the test, especially as we enter this next round of midterms. In one sense they started today with a general anatomy lab practical, but it really picks up next week with 3 midterms followed by 2 more midterms the following week. The biggest thing I think that helps make it all possible is time management. There are times where I’m unable to look at material some nights because we’re in class all day, there is a speaker I want to go to, I need groceries, and clothes need washed. No matter what it is though, as long as I manage my study time well I know I can get it done.

I’ll see you on the other side of the second round of midterms!

Fun fact (video) of the blog: Our pathology professor showed us this video a few weeks back and I found it really remarkable. Clever manipulations and solutions to complex or common health problems is fascinating to me and one of the reasons I love learning about developments in health care. They can completely alter the lives of people.

So admittedly, this blog blast is a week late but that’s what happens when we had our first two midterms this week. The level of busyness (and stress levels) has certainly increased in the last couple weeks. But, I’ve made it through week 1 of midterms and now to get through 2 more next week to finish off the first round of midterms.

In the meantime though, I did get a chance last week to go to the Student Volunteers for Optometric Service to Humanity’s (SVOSH) sorting party and it was a really awesome time. SVOSH is one of our many student organizations and SVOSH focuses on providing eye care and eyewear to people in developing nations who are unable to access such care. As part of that, students in SVOSH sort thousands of donations of used eyeglasses so they can be provided to patients on SVOSH trips. I’ve heard the trips, which are usually somewhere in South America or the Caribbean regions, are fantastic. It’s great exposure to unique diseases rarely seen in the states, a chance to make a huge impact on the lives of people in need, and of course, an opportunity to sight see a little bit as well. I’m hoping I’ll get the chance to go on a trip during my time in school.

So back to the sorting part of all this. Literally, SVOSH has boxes upon boxes upon boxes you didn’t know existed worth of glasses. It’s really impressive actually. The president of SVOSH organized this big sorting party to try and get through some boxes and we had a great turnout. The cool part though, was getting to sort through all of them and find some pretty ridiculous styles of glasses. We had a competition going on for who could find the most outrageous pair and we found some gems. I wish I had more photos of what we found, but the picture below will give you a decent idea.