Well after another round of finals and a great semester break, I’m ready to start up school again. I was able to attend the new student orientation this past Thursday and Friday. It was such a success!! I was able to meet a lot of great people who are very excited to begin their optometric education. It was fun to help out and answer many questions for the incoming class. My time sure has gone by quick. It just seems like yesterday it was my new student orientation.  My advice for the incoming class is to get a planner and get organized. When you can plan out your time, you will be more productive and more aware of your study time. Also look up to your big sib and/or upper class students. They have been in your shoes and can offer advice. I hope everyone sets their alarm clocks and prepares themselves for an incredible journey.

Cheers…

I finally made it to Memphis. I arrived on Monday and had my room fully furnished by Tuesday night, which I consider to be an accomplishment. I also don’t consider having a mattress and box spring on the floor without a headboard a problem. With only my car to carry all my things, I wasn’t able to bring any furniture. By the end of Monday, I only had a bedside table assembled next to my makeshift “bed” (lots of blankets on the floor). Luckily, by the end of Tuesday night I had found it all, kitchen table and chairs (which desperately need to be re-upholstered), desk and matching bookshelf, dresser and a brand-new mattress.  So on Wednesday, I took time off from unpacking and went to the Botanic Garden Farmer’s Market and to the Cooper Young district. I bought okra for the first time, but had to ask how to prepare it. I should have realized that everyone’s favorite way to eat okra is fried.   We had lunch at Soul Fish on Cooper, and it was wonderful like always. I love the fact that Macaroni and Cheese counts as a veggie on their menu.

Thursday morning was our first day of orientation. I’m still not used to this Central time thing and will wake up an hour before my alarm, because I think it’s 7:00am and not 6:00am. Made it to orientation easily, it’s so convenient that the school is only a few minutes away from my apartment. We stayed busy all day, and it seemed like everyone was excited to finally be here and starting.  We were measured for our white coats, which seemed to be a bigger ordeal than I initially expected. I took the advice of the man in charge of sizing, and I’m sure that I won’t be disappointed. We received lots of helpful information about the school, our curriculum, the Memphis area and optometry in general, while meeting lots of different people involved in all aspects of the college. We ended the day with ice cream, so I went home full and content. The second day of orientation went by even faster, and we ended the day by receiving our equipment. You could tell that everyone was excited to jump right in, because lots of the students were taking home our new equipment and books before class has even started. I was worried that I would break something, so I left mine in my locker.

It was nice to finally get to meet the entering class. I’ve been seeing names on Sharepoint and in emails, and now I can put some faces with their names. I’m off to start the weekend in true Memphis fashion with a Barbecue Dinner. Looking forward to class on Monday….

Hello all! So sorry it’s been so long since my last blog. I just got back from my summer vacation. I ended up going home to spend time with family and friends and I had very limited Internet access. I had an amazing break but am excited to be back in Memphis. I just got a new puppy dog named Nikko three weeks ago so he is keeping me busy before school starts! I looked at our school schedule and I’m happy to see how interesting my classes sound. I think it’s going to be a great year, but I’m sure a lot of work! I’ll update you when we’ve started the semester!

Greetings Everyone (again)!!

So my family and I moved to Cordova, TN this past Saturday, and we are already enjoying the area. After doing some driving around to get more familiar with Memphis/Cordova, we have come to realize that everything we need is here within the vicinity. There is a Wal-Mart less than 5 minutes away, a shopping mall less than 10 minutes away, and all the restaurants and fast food chains you could ever need. As a matter of fact, my stomach is still stuffed from the Jim & Nick’s BBQ I just ate. I’m more than positive we picked the perfect place to stay (Not to mention the drive to SCO was only about 20 minutes). We are still doing some unpacking of the little stuff, but for the most part our new apartment is feeling like home already.

With school starting in a few weeks, I’m certainly enjoying the free time. A handful of my classmates are having a cook out, so I will most likely try to attend the outing and meet a few new people. I’m extremely confident that the new incoming class at SCO will be one to remember. I’m so proud to be a part of something so special, and also so thrilled for what this journey to Memphis is bringing to my life, as well as my family’s life. I can’t wait to see how this journey unfolds.

Until next time…. Later~

Finals are next week!  This week, the 3^rdyears had our final 3 Lab Practicals in our Contact Lens, Low Vision Rehabilitation and Strabismus lab courses.  This marked the end of regular laboratory classes at SCO for the 3rd years! woohoo! It was also our last week of Clinic rotations for the semester. Next Week we have a lecture course final every single day!  Finals time at SCO is pretty stressful but I’ve got a few days off after that to look forward to.  To all the students in the entering class this fall, I’ll see you at Orientation! Now, back to studying!

Summer has gone by so fast! I will be moving down to Memphis in three weeks, with orientation is in less than four weeks. I received my final acceptance from SCO, so it looks like they still want me there, and I’m still excited to go. I’ve been getting lots of important info in the past few weeks regarding registration, orientation, and events and it’s all helping me to get excited. I knew there was a White Coat Ceremony at the end of September, but was pleasantly surprised to learn how elaborate the weekend will be. I’ve already been told by my aunt, uncle, mom, dad and sister that they are coming down, so I’m looking forward to showing off my new home and school so early into the fall.

I spent last weekend in Ann Arbor, the home of my undergraduate University. It was nice to roam the streets that I had grown to know and love in my four years on the campus. I went to my favorite restaurants, ate way too much food and drank way too much coffee, revisiting all of the places that I frequented so often during exams and other study sessions. I drove past my freshman year dorm and was so glad that despite returning to school, I’m not moving back into a shared room with a public bathroom used by all 14 people in my hall. (In Memphis, I’ll have my own bathroom for the first time ever!)

So with things basically set in Memphis, other than a bed, kitchen table or any other furniture for my room, I’m enjoying my last few weeks of fun and rest at home in Northern Michigan. Right now the city is having the Traverse City Film Festival, led by Michael Moore, and I’ve seen more than my fair-share of new and unique movies. The festival ends tonight and I’m off to see a french movie at midnight to make the most of it. I hope everyone enjoys the last few weeks of summer!

Well after a few weeks of being in primary care in the Eye Center, I am starting to get the swing of things. I am able to feel more confident in the exams and with my findings. It really is a great learning experience. I love getting feedback from my staff doctors. It is a good way to keep yourself in check and to grow as a clinician.

Recently we had a seminar on Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) contact lenses. RGPs are usually not the standard contact lens that we think of. Only about 9% of the general population wears them.  Even though we are learning about RGP’s in our contact lens class and lab, it was neat to see how they work in the real world and on real patients. I have not had too much interest in RGPs but this seminar was interesting. As part of the presentation, we had actual patients come in and we were able to view the fluoroscein patterns with the slit lamp  and  projected up on the big screen so our entire class could see.  It was really neat to see how these lenses were able  to improve the quality of life and vision for these patients, that a normal soft contact lens could not.

Another part of my clinical assignments, for the next few weeks, will be involved in central testing in the Eye Center. When I was a second year student, we had exposure in central testing. Basically, after a patient checks in, we do some “pre-testing” with them. We take their blood pressure and heart rate. We also use a non contact tonometer and do the “puff of air” test to measure their intraocular pressure. We also use the autorefractor and do lensometry to measure their glasses. After we get the results, we bring the patient up to the appropriate suite and drop them off with one of our classmates to begin the exam.

Well that is it for this week. I have a busy schedule these next few weeks with getting ready for finals. I am excited for school to start up for the newest members of SCO in August. I have met some of the members of class of 2014 and I look forward to meeting you all.

See you in a few weeks….

Today was a great day!! It was my first day going to a nursing home and seeing patients there. It was a great experience. I love how here at SCO we get exposure and so many patient encounters in different areas in optometry. Today we had to bring all of our clinical equipment do an exam right in the patient’s room. It definitely is different than performing the examination in the adult primary care suite at The Eye Center. But overall we all had awesome experiences and met some really neat people.

This week our class had to do a research paper for integrative analysis class. Even though it was challenging to do the research, it was rewarding as well. I got to be familiar with our library and the vast resources we have here. Here at our library we have a program called Vision Net. It is a big database network of hundreds of journals and articles all about optometry, ophthalmology, opticianry, vision science, etc (everything about the eye). It is so big and full of resources that other schools pay to use it!! We, as SCO students, obviously do not have to pay for it. It was so helpful with writing my paper.

We also had our phone-a-thon last night. We, as ambassadors, made phone calls to the incoming class of 2014 reminding them of some important dates coming up and some things they still need to send in. It was great to hear how excited they are in starting school here. It was great to be able to relate to them and help answer their questions. We have been in their shoes before and it definitely helps to be able to ask questions to upperclassmen students. There are so many of us that would love to help answer any questions that you may have.

Well that’s it for this week but I will keep you informed and up to date with my life here at SCO…

-Cheers

Summer is finally here! Talk about a deserved break! Don’t worry, you’ll know exactly what I mean after your first year here at SCO. Although the school year is actually pretty fun and flies by, you’ll definitely be ready to sit back and relax and take a break from the whole “learning” thing. Right after school got out I attended the American Optometric Association Meeting in Orlando, Florida.  I would recommend it to everyone! A group of 11 girls and myself drove three cars down right after finals. We had rented a house so that costs could be kept down, although several of the girls had won travel grants from school to help out with their travel expenses. After arriving we attending several meetings that addressed our questions about our future as an optometrist. It was great. The speakers let us text in questions so you didn’t have to get all nervous and speak up in front of an entire room full of people. I think they got over 400 questions and the ones they didn’t get to during the session, they continued to answer through text messages the following day! Talk about commitment to the profession! Anyway after our meetings AOSA organized many student parties and activities. There was wine tasting, a student quiz bowl, a student party at Universal Studios and much more! Trust me, going to these meetings is more than just a great learning experience, it’s a blast!