Howdy, readers! Spring Break is finally here for the students here at SCO. While it has been a great opportunity to catch up on sleep (and TV shows), a lot of students (including myself) are using this week off as more of a “catch-up” time than an actual break – especially the third-year students who have Part I of their National Boards next week!
While the first-years may not have National Boards coming up, it is still a busy time at school. In addition to lots of exams and lab practicals on the horizon, we also have multiple scholarship and travel grant application deadlines approaching. I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but one of the things I love about SCO is that the students are made very aware of every applicable scholarship application out there. I’ve been taking advantage of this as much as possible this year. My giant “Spring Break To-Do List” contains quite a few scholarship applications – two of which I completed today!
Speaking of scholarships, I was actually just notified this morning that I have advanced to the regional level in a partner scholarship competition based on “The Future of Optometry.” While the first level of the competition was just a one-page business proposal about an optometric innovation idea, my partner and I will have to create a presentation or a video to present to judges at the regional level next month. The 21 optometry schools in the US are divided into eight regions for the regional competition. If we advance beyond the regional level, we will have the opportunity to showcase our idea on a national level at the American Optometric Association Optometry’s Meeting in Philadelphia in June! Besides the obvious financial benefit of applying for these scholarships, the competitions are also a great way to get a head start in networking within the profession. We are both very excited about the opportunity and we can’t wait to present our idea to the regional judges next month!
Once we hit the books again after Spring Break, final exams, then summer break will be here before we know it. Just yesterday, the clinic I work at on weekends offered me a full-time position for the summer. I absolutely love working there and couldn’t be happier about having some solidified summer plans in Memphis! While summers in Memphis may be hot, it’ll feel wonderful to me compared to my last 18 summers spent in Houston, Texas – the most hot and humid place in the world.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful break! Mine not might be spent somewhere sandy and sunny, but I am definitely enjoying all of this “catch-up” time and the absolutely beautiful weather we’ve been blessed with these past few days! I’m off to check more some more things off of my “to-do list,” but I’ll write again soon with more updates on the spring semester. :-)