Hello Ohio State Optometry School!

On Move-In-Day I had many mixed emotions! I could feel the nerves flustering all over. So many different thoughts running through my mind, what will school be like? Who will I meet? Who will be my friends/peers? What will my professor be like? Will I like my new apartment? How much different can this be from home? Like many students, you really don’t have an answer until that time comes, so I decided just to go with it!

My community back home is much different than this one, but I am optimistic that my new OSU community will be open, because we value our differences more than our similarities. This new journey elicits a lot of excitement for me as I leave my community back home. It took courage to come here without friends and family, but I know it will be a great experience. I have very little knowledge of the culture here, but I am learning as I go! I really like all the neat restaurants near my apartment!

Also, my big sib is absolutely amazing! She and I talk regularly throughout the week and will set up lunch soon! She has truly helped me to feel more comfortable and to become more acclimated. I advise every incoming student to develop a strong relationship with his or her big sib! If it weren’t for my big sib I would have so many unanswered questions!

The next steps were getting prepared for orientation. The first 3 days of orientation were packed with information and activities. Again, my emotions were mixed, as I was super excited, but anxious to know what optometry school will be like. Luckily my nerves were eased once I met or “re-met” the faculty and staff! Each of them very warm, informative and open to supporting the students throughout this process. One of my favorite parts was hearing from current and former students! Each of the students was able to provide us with helpful advice during our first year and beyond. The students gave us note-taking tips, study tips, board exam tips, residency tips and employment tips. On a lighter note, the students also reminded us to have fun and get involved! Optometry school is hard work, but we should enjoy ourselves during this time!

This brings me to one of my most favorite events, the Epsilon (ΕΨΕ) fraternity welcome party. The upperclassman demonstrated to us their camaraderie for their peers and school. They truly gave me a hardy welcome! There was great food and games! I am looking forward to learning more about the fraternity and attending more events!

Finally, but not least the most exciting experience was our welcome dinner hosted by our very own Dean Zadnik! I read so much about the faculty, the school and its research that this event felt surreal. The food was very tasty, we were given a chance to converse with our classmates, learn about the school, speak with faculty and more importantly simply have a wonderful time before classes started. After this dinner I was ready to get down to business!

Moving more into current time, we are now in our second week of classes. Due to the large course load I am now trying to find an effective approach to studying and note taking. I remember sitting down to study Patho and I had absolutely no idea where to start, but this will come with time as all the upperclassman have reassured me. Courses are really picking up. The greatest difference from undergrad is realizing that the course material is more meticulous. I have to be more appreciative of small details. Also it’s vital for me to rest and find downtime for my “brain” to unwind, I am so much more effective when I am not stressed!

We are in class for 8hrs per day at times. It’s absolutely vital for me to pace myself. Simply taking it one day at a time. It’s hard to know which courses I should devout most of my time to because each of my courses is extremely important to my career. Our first exams will take place in the next two weeks. Many of us are beginning to form study groups! I have a group of peers whom I absolutely adore, we will meet this weekend to tackle pathophysiology and ocular anatomy! I am sure we will have great time studying. I said this joke in class the other day, “we live at this school, we learn here, we study here, we sleep here, we eat here and everyone takes the same restroom breaks! We are pretty much brothers and sisters”!—this is my approach so far, lets see how it turns out. Wish me luck!