As promised, I'll tell you a little bit more about myself, now that I've returned from Canada and Chattanooga. Here we go!
It all began when I was in high school in Jackson, TN, to where my family had emigrated from the Philippines. For a good part of this stage in my life, I wanted to be a journalist. Yep, not an optometrist, but a journalist. And not just any journalist, either, but a photojournalist. Photography was my passion, and I was going to change the world in my own way.
However, that all changed when a realization hit me. I didn't want to make my favorite passion my career because I didn't want the demands of a career to stifle my passion for photography. So, after some thought, I realized that if I hadn't seen an optometrist in the second grade, I wouldn't be able to see anything further than a few inches from my nose (card-carrying myope, I am!). "An an optometrist I shall be!" I exclaimed following graduation.
Next, I went to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where I majored in chemistry and earned a minor in psychology. Admittedly, I flirted with the idea of medical school for a while, but I never felt comfortable with that thought. It wasn't right, and it wasn't for me. When I finally realized that, I somersaulted back to optometry and began preparing for the OAT and the application process.
The rest, as they say, is history! I chose SCO for several reasons. First, everyone seemed so friendly during my first initial tour. Indeed, SCO felt like a pretty close community. I was also very impressed with the size and scope of the Eye Center. I knew I would receive a quality optometric education here. Plus, the proximity to home and the opportunity to live on my own in Memphis was something I couldn't pass up. Finally, to be honest, being at SCO just felt right. It's a little hard to explain, but when one's intuitive senses are tingling that much, it would take a very good reason to ignore it.
And here I am, my first year concluded; the second about to start...very, very soon! Yikes!
I'll tell you all about it!
Virgilio
[caption id="attachment_2133" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="In the next iteration of this picture a few years from now, I'll be wearing something else entirely."]
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