Hi everyone! I can’t believe we’re coming down to our final weeks of the semester. I am just about finished with labs for the fall, and just have a couple days left of classes. We had a few practicals last week, and I just have one more school screening to do tomorrow. Then I can really focus on finals and getting ready to head home for Christmas!
It was so nice to be home for Thanksgiving. I haven’t been back to Pennsylvania since July, so it was wonderful to be back and to have a chance to see everyone. I’m already looking forward to going back in a few weeks! I think it was a much needed break for all of us.
Overall, this was an exciting semester. We learned so much, especially in terms of clinical skills. It was definitely overwhelming, and at times it felt like we had a practical every week, but I’m so happy to finally be learning some of the examination tools that we’ll be using over and over every day. I can't believe that in just a few short months we'll be starting in clinic!
Another exciting development happened this semester with externship sites. Since there is already an optometry school in Pennsylvania and it is relatively far, there were not any extern sites set up in the state for SCO students. I was pretty bummed about this, but I was able to work with the externship office to set up my own. I contacted a doctor’s office close to my house and was amazed by how willing they were to allow me to spend some time there during my fourth year. Even though I’m only in my second year, we have to have our externship sites finalized by the summer, so I wanted to have everything in place well before then. I have always been happy with my decision to attend school in Tennessee, and with knowing the school was willing to work with me as start to think about this next step in my training.
For now, I’m taking advantage of Christmas music, Christmas lights, and Christmas cookies to help make finals prep a little more bearable. :) I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!