Your first year of optometry school can be intimidating. New professors, new classes, new classmates from all different backgrounds and living in a new place can easily become overwhelming. Like any other student, I was both excited and anxious about starting my first year of my optometry program. It’s exciting to finally start your professional career as an optometrist but all the steps in between can become demanding.
In the beginning, I felt that my transition coming right out of my undergraduate studies made it easier to go directly into my graduate years. Despite the smooth transition, the workload and curriculum of optometry school is very different from undergrad. Although I already had adequate study habits throughout undergrad, learning to adopt new study tactics became one of my biggest obstacles during my first semester. Throughout my first few months of school, I realized that studying on my own was the most effective. As much as studying on my own was my go-to method, collaborating with other students and professors is what pushed me toward my full potential of being a successful student.
On top of starting a new program at a new school, moving to a new state and adjusting to a whole new lifestyle during the peak of COVID made my first year more challenging. One of the biggest difficulties I faced was not being able to be surrounded by my peers. Not being around your classmates makes the experience more individualized instead of collaborative. When you are surrounded by other classmates facing the same difficulties, it makes it feel as if everyone is working together to get through it. This challenge pushed me to reach out to my peers to feel as if my class was more of a community.
Throughout my second semester, I continued to improve my study methods and started to learn that taking care of my mental and physical health correlated with my success in school. Activities such as working out, hiking, and time with my friends and family gave me the mental breaks I needed throughout my first year. These outlets gave me a way to find a balance between my studies and life outside of school. Taking these mental breaks and knowing I have a support system behind me encourages me to keep going, even when I am faced with substantial challenges throughout school.
The ups and downs of optometry school is what makes the experience memorable. It is easy to get tied up in the weight of the workload but reminding yourself why you are here and allowing yourself to enjoy the process is key.
