NSUCO - The Visionary Spring 2012

THE V ISIONARY • S PRING 2012 — 10 and is trained by using the current president’s past work experience to educate board members firsthand in the ways of a business. The organization not only provides useful information and guides students as they are finishing their education at Nova, but it also serves as a great resource even after they leave Nova as students and are developing their careers. – OD3 Justin Coleman Gold Key International Optometric Honor Society The Gold Key International Optometric Honor Society is an organization es- tablished to recognize upperclassmen who have demonstrated outstand- ing leadership and service to their class, community, and profession. This May, we will be honoring several of this year’s Gold Key members in the graduating class of 2012 with a gold cord to be worn during their graduation ceremony. Newmembers will be selected from the class of 2013 by the cur- rent officers. Applications will be available in April. – OD4 See Vang CAOS The Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS) is an organiza- tion that brings together Canadian students studying in Canada and the United States. The purpose of the CAOS is to provide a platform fromwhich resources and information can be shared amongst Canadian optometry stu- dents. Updates on items such as new laws and changes in the scope of prac- tice in each province, dates and deadline for Canadian Boards, law exams, and license registration are common topics at meetings. It also provides a network for students to connect with their future colleagues both while in optometry school, and after graduation. The NSUCO chapter of the CAOS has had a fun and productive school year, which began with a back-to-school dinner for the first-year members to get to know the upperclassmen. In October, the CAOS celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with the annual potluck dinner at the HPD cafeteria. It’s a wonderful and festive evening for everyone who attends since there isn’t an opportunity to fly home and spend the holiday with family. Shortly after this, a webinar was held with a Canadian O.D. and Vision Source Canada. After the presentation, there was an open question-and-answer session, during which the O.D.s were very helpful in answering questions about any- thing related to optometry in Canada. Upcoming CAOS events include a hockey night to go to a Toronto Maple Leafs game when the team comes to Florida to face the Florida Panthers. There is also another webinar planned with a top-rated company that does electronic health records in Canada to help future O.D.s understand their options for recordkeeping. – OD4 Nina Gupta, CAOS co-president Student Kudos OD4 Dean Gogerdchi received the International Vision Expo travel grant last fall to attend Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, Nevada. The $1,000 grant, which covered hotel accommodations and other expenses, allowed Gogerdchi to gain a wealth of valuable knowledge and connections. OD3 Blake Hutto received the 2011 J. Pat Cummings Scholarship award from the American Optometric Foundation. This well-deserved award recognizes Hutto’s outstanding accomplishments both in the classroom and in regard to volunteer activities. Eagerly anticipating Santa’s arrival, a three-year-old boy finds it hard to get to sleep on Christmas Eve. Somewhere between his anxiousness and thoughts of reindeer on the roof, he manages to slip into a dreamwhere he runs out to the Christmas tree and sees a pile of presents for him and his older brother. Suddenly, he realizes it’s time to wake up. He jumps out of bed and runs toward the Christmas tree gleefully awaiting his gifts. He finally arrives at the tree only to see there is nothing under it. He searches around, but no gifts can be found. He walks back to his roomwith his head hung low, curls up under the covers, and waits for everyone else to awaken. Sadly, this is the story of many children right here in South Florida. Christmas is so much bigger than gifts under a tree, yet this is one of the most exciting times of the year for young children because they know something might magically appear for them overnight. The National Optometric Student Association (NOSA) teamed up with the Ft. Lauderdale Lions Club this past December to collect and deliver Christ- mas gifts to needy children around the greater Fort Lauderdale area. Michael Bacigalupi, O.D., M.S., FAAO, assistant dean for student affairs, Lions Club members, and students Nathalie Anglade, Babita Gounden, Hong Vu, and Anieka Williams traveled to various homes to deliver gifts to 50 children—5 of whom were living in a shelter. The team drove around Fort Lauderdale not only to deliver the gifts, but to spend a little time and share some Christmas spirit with the families and children. Trips to the various households were also necessary because many children came from homes with only one parent, and many of these fami- lies would not have been able to find transportation to pick up the Christ- mas gifts. NOSA sponsored a young boy named Collin who was very shy and timid when we arrived. However, after spending a little time with him and giving him his multiple gifts, he had one of the biggest smiles we saw all day and couldn’t wait to open up his surprises. The toy drive would not have been possible without the extraordinary co- ordination and heart of the Lions Club’s Lorrie Cram, who has been coordi- nating the drive for a number of years and has built a strong love for each and every one of these families. The names of the children come from the Pregnancy and Parent support program, which is part of the Children’s Home Society. These children are in families that are in danger of losing custody of their kids due to things such as having their electricity cut off for a prolonged period of time. The Lions Toy Drive, which has been in effect since 1995 and started with only 10 children, has grown exponentially with the economic crises that have gripped the country in recent years. Each child at the minimum re- ceives one outfit of clothing and two toys. Many of the faculty members here at NSUCO help in sponsoring children, including Dr. Bacigalupi and Linda Rouse, O.D., FAAO, who serves as assistant dean for finance and chief operations officer of The Eye Care Institute. If you would like to assist with the 2012 Christmas toy drive, please email your contact information to Babita Gounden at gounden@nova.edu . Currently, NOSA is coordinating a children’s book drive for an orphanage in Haiti, so if you have any children’s books, especially picture books, please send an email to the aforementioned address. NOSA: Caring at Christmas By OD3 Babita Gounden