Greetings, Blogosphere:
Last month I won a travel grant to attended the American Academy of Optometry’s annual conference held this year in SEATTLE…did someone say the home of the first Starbucks?!
I consider myself quite the conference-goer, and I must admit, AAO’s conference was one of the best. “The Academy,” as this conference is affectionately called, takes on a more academic feel as attendees are educated on the newest, greatest, and latest updates in research and technology influencing the optometric industry from disease to vision therapy. There’s really a focus to enlighten minds, and I felt like I was at a point in my school career that I could really follow along with the commentators and research being discussed. By the conference’s conclusion, I felt I had gained a whole wealth of knowledge beyond what’s learned in the classroom.
One of the big student draws to the Academy is Student Fellowship. This is a special recognition of students who have gone above-and-beyond simply attending the Academy’s lectures. Instead, these students must participate in specific lecture and meeting requirements throughout the Academy. While definitely doable, attaining Student Fellowship was quite the exhausting task. One day I was in lectures and symposiums from 9am-9pm! It was so worth it though, especially because I had the chance to rub shoulders with some of the greatest research minds in our profession!
At the end of the day, nothing beats the student parties at these conferences… I even had the chance to bring my older brother, David, along! David moved to Seattle a little over a year ago to work with tech-giant Microsoft (yeah, he’s quite the family brain if you know what I mean!), so it was really nice to see his new stomping grounds and visit the local sites with him. Even my Lil’ Sib Feyi (and fellow blogger) trekked the Space Needle with us too!
Of course, no blog post would be complete with out a few photos :) Enjoy!
Carpe Diem,
Amy