A New Perspective

A New Perspective

5 years ago if you had asked me where I see myself today I probably would have said that I would be in dental school. For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a dentist. Crazy right? Things began to change during my year off after I finished my masters degree. I had applied to dental school 2 times by this time and was in the process of applying a third time, it felt like a cycle that kept repeating its self. I would interview, get waitlisted and then never hear back. I began to start losing hope. So I decided I wasn't going to sit around for another year. I agreed to work at an Ophthalmologist/Retina Specialists office as a technician. Little did I know, this was going to be  a life changing decision for me. I would be learning everything from how to answer the phones to working up patients. It was scary, it was something new. No more working with teeth, no more x-ray's or assisting during fillings, root canals and extractions. Now I would be answering phones, checking a patients vision, dilating their eyes, numbing patients for injections and so much more. 

After a few months working at this new job, I began to realize the importance of vision. I mean, I always knew how vital it was to our lives. I had been wearing glasses since the age of 7, contacts since I was 12 and I'm myopic, oh and macular degeneration runs in my family. So don't get me wrong, I was always familiar with optometry and what it meant to be an eye doctor. But I never realized how much I could enjoy it, how it was actually a perfect fit for me. I started becoming more and more passionate about eyes.  I took interest in looking through the slit lamp and learning how to refract. I  even learned how to do visual fields, oct's, fa's, bscans and so much more! As I learned each new skill, I fell in love with eyeballs. So that was it, I knew I had to apply to optometry school. It was already mid July by now, I was still in the middle of a dental school application cycle (dental school had basically become a backup plan by now). So I had a huge list of things I had to start doing, take my OAT'S, start the application, write a personal statement, get recommendation letters and shadow an optometrist. Somehow by October I had accomplished all of this. I went to work every day, studied for my OAT and prepared my optometry school application. It was the craziest, most stressful 4 months of my life. I took my OAT in October and shadowed some amazing optometrists. During my entire shadowing experience I felt so comfortable, I felt like I belonged, something I never felt while being in a dental office. Shadowing solidified my decision to apply to optometry school even more. Now, since it was already late October I had a bad feeling. I thought to myself, what if it's too late to apply? What if I don't get in? What if they don't interview me because I wanted to be a dentist before? Boy was I wrong.

On a bright sunny day in November I got an email from PCO. My first Optometry Interview! I couldn't believe it, was this really happening? I scheduled the interview for December 4th. So I got on my plane and flew to Pennsylvania. At this point I was freaking out, everything just felt so unreal. I remember getting to the campus and seeing all the other students in my interview group. Everyone was so nice and friendly. We all went on a tour and I began to realize how familiar everything looked. it looked just like our office, every machine and instrument they showed us was something I already knew how to use. I can really do this, I started to realize. I got more excited throughout the day and felt great after my interview. Two weeks later I got the best news I would get in a while, my first acceptance to optometry school! I was overwhelmed with joy, honestly couldn't believe it, I finally had a future! Finally, I was going to be doing something with my life. I had my second interview in another month at ICO, and 2 weeks later I was accepted there as well. It was the best news I had gotten in a long time. All those long hours of studying had finally paid off. Every patient experience and skill I had learned working as a technician would prepare me for the challenges in optometry school, it was all worth it.  After a lot of thinking and making a huge list of pro's and con's I chose to be a part of Illinois College of Optometry's class of 2020.  Yup, I'm moving from Florida to Chicago! I will get to finally see snow! And I know... I am going to freeze!

So I guess it's safe to say that I definitely do not want to be a dentist anymore! I wish I had realized I wanted to become an optometrist sooner, but the long path it took me to get me to this point has just made me work each step of the way. Does it hurt a little when I drive by a dental office? Yeah it does, but when I see an optometrists office I get super excited, and I start imagining how that's going to be me one day, and I really can't wait!!