OPT Visionary - Summer 2014

PAGE 14 SGA By Ryan Beck, Class of 2015, President and AOSA National Trustee The academic year began with the inaugural beach bash hosted by the Student Government Association (SGA) and the American Optometric Student Associ- ation (AOSA).Throughout the year, there were many great events for students to attend and participate in both at NSU and throughout our local community and communities abroad. There were students who ventured to Orlando for the annual Special Olympics vision screening, while others went on mission trips to Belize to service underprivileged communities regarding eye care serv- ices. Workshops were administered at the school from some of the nation’s top speakers on topics from practice management to visual development, as well as the World Health Organization’s 20/20 initiative. The SGA and the AOSA also combined their efforts to create NSUCO’s inaugural Cycle for Sight fund- raiser, which generated over $12,000 in funds to donate to children in need of eye care.The year-end EyeBall event was held at the Westin on Fort Laud- erdale Beach and attracted over 400 attendees. Class of 2016 By Jay Harrelson, President, and Jeremy Chartash, Vice President We kicked off the summer of 2013 with a patriotic class barbeque and picnic at Plantation Heritage Park. As it cooled down in the fall, we designed and sold class sweatshirts and hoodies and hosted a Thanksgiving lunch for all HPD students and faculty members. During the winter semester, we celebrated the completion of our 100 th exam by having a class gathering at a dueling piano restaurant/bar. By the end of the year, our hard work had paid off as we com- pleted our clinical proficiency requirement and were able to start seeing real patients in clinic. Our class was also able to give back to the community through our outreach projects and poster presentations. AAO By Pinar Haytac, Class of 2015, Student Liaison The 2013 American Academy of Optometry (AAO), which was held October 23- 26 in Seattle, Washington, allowed 11 optometry students to meet the goals for what it takes to become a Student Fellow of the academy. The student fellowship teaches optometry students how to submit posters and papers and attend work- shops and continuing education lectures in order to persuade further involvement and to become a Fellow upon graduation. The entire student fellowship process takes place during the annual meeting. The requirements include student mem- bership in the academy, an orientation breakfast at the annual meeting, and four hours of continuing education, as well as attending two hours of poster presen- tations, the academy’s business meeting, two hours of paper presentations, and one section or SIG symposium. An additional requirement is attendance at the plenary session, the Monroe J. Hirsch Symposium, or the Ezell Fellows’ Pres- entation. For more information, please visit http://www.aaopt.org/student-fellow- ship . We hope you find an interest to apply for the upcoming annual meeting being held in Denver, Colorado, November 12-15, 2014. AOSA By Micaela Crowley, Class of 2016, Trustee The 2013-14 academic year was busier than ever for the American Optometric Student Association (AOSA) as our goal was to increase our presence on campus. It started last October when the college’s AOSA chapter hosted a first-ever World Sight Week Challenge and Cycle for Sight fund-raiser when over 200 students and faculty members were motivated to change the global issue of preventable blindness by cycling over 3,459 miles and raising $12,097 for Optometry Giving Sight. In April, the AOSA helped Boston Marathon par- ticipants finish the race and hosted a 2.62 mile Together We Run event. We have a lot to look forward to this summer as we also started a project with our dean, Dr. David Loshin, which aims to connect student O.D.s to their state as- sociation of interest early in their optometric education. We believe experience is a major way to help students feel comfortable networking and socializing in professional settings upon graduation. A trial run is planned for the class of 2019 Orientation Week. BSK By Alexandra Bennet, Class of 2015, President The Beta Sigma Kappa (BSK) honor society was involved with a variety of ac- tivities this year. The club distributed a mock proficiency guide and hosted an educational weekend in which it helped prepare the OD2 class with each station of the Preclinical Proficiency Exam. BSK also helped raise over $1,300 for the Lighthouse of Broward at its Public House fund-raiser. BSK’s greatest accomplishment this year has been the countless hours its members spent tutoring their fellow classmates. CAOS By Lawrence Tam, Class of 2015, Co President The NSUCO chapter of the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS) has been a supportive forum for Canadians studying in Florida. Our year started with a friendly potluck that brought together new and old members as well as Canadian students from other health professions. We continued strong with the yearly tradition of our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration and also enjoyed a night out ice skating for those that were missing traditional Cana- dian winter activities. Our year had a great finish by hosting a webinar with practicing optometrists in Canada that included NSUCO alumni. The connec- tions and lifelong relationships our members have is what allow us to succeed during school and after graduation. COVD By Angela Love, Class of 2015, Student Liaison In the fall of 2013, we held our annual and largest meeting of the year—the Tour d’Optometry. Each year, a representative from the College of Op- tometrists in Vision Development (COVD) speaks to all the optometry schools about vision therapy. This year, our featured speaker was Kara Heying, O.D., FCVOD, president elect of the COVD board, who discussed the topic “The Power of Developmental Eye Care— More Than 20/20 Makes the Difference.” We ended the semester with a dinner meeting discussing our residency pro- gram at NSUCO. All of our pediatric residents attended and spoke with our students about what residencies are like and gave their personal experiences. We also had a community service project involving sports vision screenings in Miramar, Florida, for NFL player Ray Shipman’s community service project. The community was educated on eye protection and shown techniques to help enhance vision for athletes. FCO By Adesola Fadey, Class of 2017, President The Fellowship of Christian Optometrists (FCO) allows students of like-minded faith to have a place for fellowship and grow with each other, while those who do not share in those same Christian beliefs are also welcome to join. We hold various events such as our annual back-to-school barbeque bash, which pro- vides a time for us to relax and soak up the sun with fellow students and mingle before the hectic semester. We also coordinate our Annual Christmathanks- magiving ugly sweater party, which serves as a fun and energetic way to collect and donate cans of food to the homeless, as well as our Christmas Toy Drive for underprivileged kids. We also hold ocular disease reviews that our fourth- year students coordinate for us before every exam and participate in the NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine’s medical outreach trip to Jamaica. Eye Site Student Organizations