Dear First Years,
I know I’m not the first to say it recently, but it never hurts to say it again: Congratulations on starting this new adventure in your life – optometry school! I’m sure it’s also been said, too, but welcome to Southern College of Optometry, Class of 2018.
This is such an exciting time for you all, and many good memories lie ahead of you. Why, I remember back in the day when I was a first year, fresh-eyed and with a brand new, shiny trial lens kit, duffel bag full of thick textbooks. I remember it just like yesterday. In a sense, I suppose it was just yesterday…yesterday is a relative term. But here I am, already a third of the way through my fourth year. It will fly by extremely quickly, I guarantee it.
So how does one make most of this blink of an eye called optometry school? I am by no means a definitive scholar on the subject, but I may have a modicum of experience to empart to you:
1) There’s 135 others in your class, and roughly 300ish older students on campus right now. Learn from them, and learn from their eyes! I’m not very good at math, but 435 x 2 eyes = a lot of eyes to learn from. You – we – are all in this together, so don’t be afraid to ask for help from your fellow eye enthusiasts.
2) On that note…your faculty members will one day be your colleagues, so ask as many questions as you can right at the very beginning. Their experience and knowledge is invaluable, so don’t be shy.
3) Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, less-than-desirable exam scores, or partly botched practicals. It will happen and they will come. Just dust yourself off, learn from it, and move on. And repeat 1) and 2) when these things happen.
4) Get involved! There are so many ways to be active on campus, and joining different interests and clubs will greatly improve your knowledge of our career. There exist so many venues for learning about optometry outside of the classroom. Enrich yourself with these different perspectives.
5) At the same time, you have to be balanced. Don’t overstretch yourself too much; pacing is key. As Dr. James Newman told my class during Theory and Methods: “Optometry school ain’t no sprint; it’s a marathon.” Speaking of running…exercise for your health and sanity.
6) You are in Memphis. Memphis, Memphis, magnificent Memphis. My favorite city on the planet. You are now here at a very interesting time in the history of Memphis, to be honest. The city is undergoing what is best described as a Renaissance, with hotspots of growth and future growth all over the city. But I shan’t mention any specifics here – go out in this wonderful city and explore. Volunteer. Be a Memphian.
You all will soon get your white coats. In the next minute you’ll be wearing that white coat, nervously sitting in a conference room with your lab group in The Eye Center, waiting for your pre-clinical checkouts. Almost no time at all will pass before you see your first patient, and in a tachistoscopic (you’ll learn what this means) flash you’ll be taking boards and graduating. Here I am, somewhere between these last two events, looking back at where you all are now. Where I was once. Enjoy this chapter in your life, with eyes wide open – blink, and you’ll miss it!
Cordially, with a hint of nostalgia,
Virgilio Gozum
“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.”
-Groucho Marx, supposedly