Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!! With Thanksgiving break finally here and winter break just around the corner, I think my class will have the final burst of motivation needed to power through the remainder of this semester’s exams, practicals, and finals. It’s hard for me to believe that our first semester as optometry students is already almost complete. Being busy makes time fly by!
While on the topic of being busy, I did have a couple of readers ask if I could write about one of my favorite topics: work. I think I may have mentioned in one of my earlier posts that one of the things that made SCO stand out to me during the interview process was the fact that students are allowed to work (this was not the case at other optometry schools I applied to). SCO offers multiple work study positions and a lot of students in my class are either partaking in work study or have a separate part-time job on the side. Being given the opportunity to work off some of our bills and tuition payments was a stress reliever for me and I know a lot of my classmates appreciate the opportunity as well.
This year, I ended up working separate part-time positions instead of work study through SCO. However, I have talked to quite a few of my classmates who have work study positions to hear what they had to say. There are multiple positions offered in many different departments at SCO including the activity center, the library, and The Eye Center. All of the students I talked to had the same general description of their experiences with work study: the department is extremely flexible and understanding, the position is educational or interesting, the hours work well with their school schedule, and the job does not interfere negatively with their schoolwork. My classmates had nothing but wonderful things to say about their work study positions and it gave me a greater appreciation for SCO and the efforts they are taking to help us during our time as optometry students.
When I talked to students about working part-time jobs outside of SCO, I got a little more of a mixed response. I talked to a couple of students who were originally planning on working in the restaurant/bar industry during their time at SCO but realized that working that type of job would add too much stress to the semester because of late nights and long shifts. On the other hand, I work part-time at an optometrist’s office here in Southaven and I absolutely love it. I had worked in other offices before so the training was not too difficult and I just love having the opportunity to apply what I am learning in school to real patients and real situations at work. Every time I go to work I leave even more excited about my future career. While I was a little worried at the beginning that my job would interfere with school, it actually does quite the opposite. I only work on weekends, I get to practice the chair skills that I am learning in Pre-Clinical lab on real patients, the doctors are helpful and kind, the office is very busy so it prepares me for efficiency on timed practicals, and I work with a few older students at SCO so I am able to make some friends in other classes. Overall, taking this job ended up being an even better decision than I thought it would be.
Besides talking to students about their jobs, lots has happened at SCO since I last wrote! Some of these events include…
- The Omega Delta Halloween party on Beale Street which was a great opportunity to spend some time with with SCO family outside of school. It was a blast!
- Dean Swick’s annual “Party on the Ridge” – a campout party on his beautiful property in Arkansas. Lots of students were able to make it and we had a great time enjoying the outdoors by the bonfire. Louie went too, of course.
- The mayor proclaimed last Monday “Justin Timberlake Day” in Memphis! Lots of bowties and phoropters at SCO that day (oh, and eyeball costumes). I didn’t get to go to his concert in Memphis that night but I heard that it was a lot of fun!
- This last one may not be as exciting for those of you who didn’t grow up in Houston… but fall weather in Memphis has stolen my heart! Look at those beautiful colors!
Next time I write I’ll be done with my first semester at SCO and I’ll have a lot more to talk about – including the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in a couple of weeks! Now I’m off to spend the next week off catching up on studying, sleeping, decorating the house for Christmas, and spending Thanksgiving with some friends here in Memphis. Happy Turkey Day and I’ll see everyone back at SCO next week!