Where's everyone from? Introduce yourself!

[UWSO2003]

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So let's get the ball rolling. I know it's near finals, but I'm hoping there are a lot of slackers out there like me.

So I'm 21, turning 22 in a week and I'm in my third year of Optometry at the University of Waterloo. This is the only english speaking Optometry school in Canada. I did two years of undergraduate studies also at UW before being accepted into Optometry.

So what about you??

 

[cpw]

Well, I think most of you know quite a bit about me, but I'm 26 (as of today at 12:37 EST) and a first year student at The University of Houston College of Optometry. I'm also in the middle of finals..which I'm successfully blowing off right now since it's my birthday and there's WAY too many good college football games on. TV is EVIL! 😉

 

[Simisn]

Happy Birthday CPW 🙂

 

[Ballew21]

Well ... I'm 22 (Happy birthday cpw, mine was last Sunday), a senior at IUPUI (Indiana U & Purdue U at Indianapolis) finishing my BA in Chemistry. I go to school full-time (15-18 cr./term) and work 40 hrs./week as an opt. tech at a Lenscrafters. I will be applying to Optometry school for the class of 2007, so hopefully I'll start the Fall of 2003, *knock on wood*. I'm going to apply to 8 schools, the two in Canada and 6 in the US. This is starting to sound like a really strange personal ad, so I'll stop here.

Nick

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/ballew18" target="_blank">http://www.geocities.com/ballew18</a> - My Homepage

 

[UWSO2003]

Hey Ballew21,

So you're applying to UW and UM eh! Can I ask why .... seeing as you're American from the location of your post.

If you want any tips or info on UW, I'll try to help as much as I can!

 

[Jubileee]

Well lets see...I am older than all of you 🙂

I have a 4 soon to be five year old son 🙂 I am taking classes while I can for my prerequisites, only four more to go! I work 40+ hours a week and currently a lab manager for LensCrafters. Strangely enough, I used to be in the store that Nick works in till I got my promotion, and take classes at the same school as well, just not in any that he is in 🙂

My goal is also to enter the opt school in 2003. While four classes seem like it shouldn't be a big deal, trying to do those four with labs, work full time to support a family, and having time to be a mom well...lets just say that things get a little full..Especially since I don't qualify for financial aid, since I already have BA in Law and Society from Purdue..

I actually got into optics by getting a part time job to help me through school, and amusing enough I keep coming back to it. After leaving the field twice and then coming back, and having a few chats with some laides I will always be grateful for, I decided that I wanted to rise to the top and become an OD.

Cassandra

PS.. IF you would like to know the rest of my life story please enclose a SASE and send to... 🙂

PSS&gt;..Maybe all of you should state how you became interested in Optometry...

 

[acnikyj]

i'm 20, from brooklyn... officially a junior but waaay behind in my prereqs, so i hope to enter suny in 2004. my background... was pre-med, lost interest. psych major, chem minor. horrible vision, always interested in optometry in the back of my mind but did pre-med (pre-med and pre-optometry actually consist of different bio courses at my school) because of, well, parental pressure. but after being completely honest with myself, i can say that i'm about 1000 times more psyched about going into optometry than medicine.

cassandra, you sound incredibly motivated, and i know you'll get those prereqs done without a hitch (ok, maybe one or two, but you'll prevail) 😀

 

[TomOD]

Hello,
I have been reading this site for awhile now and have finally decided to "login". Some of you already know me from that "other Pre-OD" site.

I am an Optometrist in NC. I graduated from Southern College of Optometry in May 2000 after getting a biology degree in 1996. I opened my own practice "cold" that same year and I'm having a ball.

Optometry is good......it's future is great.
I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has about the profession (and how it "really" is). 😎

 

[cpw]

Tom! Welcome, I was wondering when you were going to "show yourself". 😉 Welcome to SDN!

 

[UWSO2003]

Hey Cassandra,

I'm very impressed about your dedication to school. I'm already itching to get out and work, while I still have friends who have graduated that can't seem to take the odd course back at the University ....!

Well to answer your PPS .... My story about how I got interested in Optometry is quite funny. From high school I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but was leaning towards going to McMaster Univeristy, and hopefully getting into their MD programme. My girlfriend wanted to go to the University of Waterloo .... and guess what .... she won out and I went to UW.

I applied into the Biology programme, but my girlfriend again convinced my that the Pre-Optom/Pre-health programme would be better if I was considering Opt or Med. So then Opt started to become more of a priority, and after finding out more information, I was sure that the mix of being a doctor, while still having time to raise a family (family life is really important to me) sealed the deal!

I applied after my second year and got in. What happened to my girlfriend you ask? Well she decided that she wanted to go into Med, and applied after her third year and got in ... where? At McMaster ... oh the irony! I just HAVE to throw in that I had the higher average .. te he ... just goes to prove that lots of smart people DO ELECT to go into other professions.

Ah ... I feel so exposed now, and Dr. Phil isn't around .... eeek.

 

[Simisn]

I'm 19, currently taking pre-req classes, I'll be transferring to UofH, next semester, from where I'll be finishing my undergrad, probably, by 2004, and in the fall of 2004, I hope to start optometry school at UofH.
I got interested in optometry because I hated my first optometrist (this was in Kuwait). I felt that with the right training, I could do a better job than he did. Also, I wear contacts, and glasses, so I'm really interested in learning all that I can about it, and all other aspects of eyecare. After seeing the life style of several doctors in the family, I've decided that I'd much rather be happier be with the hours and lifestyle of an Optometrist 🙂

 

[TomOD]

Simisn,

I found it interesting when you said you hated your first optometrist. That is sort of how I became interested in the profession. My first OD, who I starting going to when I was 14, was a complete goofball. I didn't really realize it until much later. I thougt all optometrist just fliped a few dials and turned their back to you and wrote while you stared up at the ceiling waiting for him to say something. Really, he never talked. He had (and has) the personality of a tree. Interestingly enough, I opened my office about a mile from one of his. Nothing personal against him. But I realized that many times pt.s don't know there is a difference between different doctors.....I sure didn't. I learned a great deal about WHAT NOT TO DO from him.

 

[Ballew21]

UWSO2003 -
I'm applying to the Canadian schools because I'm from Canada (my dad was from Quebec) and I'm both a Canadian & American citizen. Je parle le francais et hablo espanol tambien, so hopefully speaking fluent French will help me at UM and speaking fluent Spanish will help me at the US schools.

My interest in Optometry (usually a long story, but I'll give you the TV guide version) ...

I have always been interested in the medical profession, but I wasn't sure in what area to specialize in. I was in school for 2 years, and after my dad passed away, I wanted to take a break and sort things out before I went back to school. One of my best friends was working at an optometrist office and I was able to get a job there. After working in the office for a few months, one of my doctors (Cassandra, it was Dr. D, *sigh*) said ... you're smart, you work really well with patients and you're handsome and there aren't many good-looking doctors (OK, I added the handsome part), you should go into Optometry.

This struck a chord with me beacuse my biggest problem with doctors, the medical profession really, is that doctors don't take the time to talk to patients/educate patients about their condition/heck, even talk to patients. I want for patients visit my office because they feel that I listen to them and care about their well-being and not because I take their insurance plan. *shrug* Anyways, my fingers are tired and it's about time for me to get off the soapbox.

*getting off my soapbox*

Nick

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/ballew18" target="_blank">http://www.geocities.com/ballew18</a> - My Homepage

 

[Simisn]

Originally posted by TomOD:
•Simisn,

I found it interesting when you said you hated your first optometrist. That is sort of how I became interested in the profession. My first OD, who I starting going to when I was 14, was a complete goofball. I didn't really realize it until much later. I thougt all optometrist just fliped a few dials and turned their back to you and wrote while you stared up at the ceiling waiting for him to say something. Really, he never talked. He had (and has) the personality of a tree. Interestingly enough, I opened my office about a mile from one of his. Nothing personal against him. But I realized that many times pt.s don't know there is a difference between different doctors.....I sure didn't. I learned a great deal about WHAT NOT TO DO from him.•••
That's pretty much how my first optometrist was. I hate it when optometrists don't talk to their patients, and instead just hands them a prescription at the end of the exam, and watch them walk out the door. After all, the patient is there, because something's wrong, and they want to know what it is.

 

[OD2BMike]

Hey all. I'm 26 years old and I'm in my 4th year at ICO. Right now I'm doing rotations away from school. This past fall I was at a clinic in Alaska and now I'm at a Co-Management center in Kentucky. External rotations are great; I'm finally getting a taste of what I went to school for. I've been reading this board for a while but have never registered. I decided to take a study break (NBEO part II this week, uuhhggg) and register.

 

[UWSO2003]

Hey Mike,

Is ICO in Chicago? Serveral of my classmates have friends that go to the Opt school in the windy city ....