talk about talking about the weather

iPads

2012-02-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

I love it when we learn and practice practical stuff we'll actually use on patients. Case in point: Pressure patching to immobilize the eyelids to reduce discomfort and promote healing in treated corneal epithelial compromise (top layer of the eyeball). We also learned the proper techniques to swab and take cultures of different parts of the eye to send off to the lab to test for bacteria.

Tomorrow I'm being graded for my lensometry techniques (using a special microscope to check glasses prescriptions) and then it's cram, cram, cram for a systemic disease midterm and ocular disease midterm for Thursday and Friday. I wish I could say I was looking forward to the weekend, but I have another midterm on Tuesday. Until then!

No New News

2012-02-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

Life is on a low simmer out here in the Grove. Midterms rev up next Thursday, so the panicking still has a few days to set in. Wednesdays are in every sense a hump day for us, not only because it's the half-way mark in the week, but also our schedule is stacked with the most excruciating afternoon of dry, boring lectures. During a particular topic today, our class got really riled up in self-entertainment...

W & D

2012-01-27T13:23:00.000-08:00

I saw this post at Wit & Delight. I haven't had any "Worst Day Ever" moments yet this semester, but if it happens, I'll be prepared! But then where do you buy handknit underwear...

Optometric Party Tricks

2012-01-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

Our behavioral optometry professor loves sharing optometric "party tricks" with us, and today sent us here. I suspect it has something to do with the natural blind spot in our eye, but don't quote me on that!

Otherwise, I spent the weekend four hours away at Mt. Bachelor to ski for the first time in at least a decade. Surprisingly, I did better now with my older rickety body than I did with my younger, limber self!

Days in Photos

2012-01-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

Some quick shots of food from a girly event we had Sunday, furry friend footprints in this morning's fresh snow (alas, no school canceled though), and an apt and funny name for a bathroom stall lock.

Cha-cha-changes

2012-01-13T00:13:00.000-08:00

New hair and new desk, complete with before and afters.

Already

2012-01-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

Already burning out. Or maybe I'm mistaking my lethargy, and it's actually a battle with a bug. Who knows, but it's been a long day, being dilated in the morning, working with our ophthalmoscopes for the first time, followed by a torturous afternoon of mind-numbingly boring lectures. My friends onion rings, the Bachelor, and Mr. Duvet Cover will usher me to an early coma tonight. I have a feeling I may need to make a run to Costco for a flat of 5 Hour Energy this weekend. Oooooh schoooool

So Fresh and So Green

2012-01-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

Kale chips: click on the image for an awesome recipe from Sterling Style

When I got home to Forest Grove, I immediately unpacked. Then, I immediately felt lonely. Forest Grove is so quiet and so isolated and so sleepy, that I feel like I'm on a distant planet. I instantly wanted to dart back to the comforts of Portland, but instead, I pow-wowwed with a classmate on our winter breaks and how we were going to make this spring 2012 semester awesome. Her best tip to me was to use OneNote, which I had heard of but didn't know much about. When I got home, I found out I already have it installed on my computer, so now I'm going to whisk the night away learning the ins and outs to be on top of my game for the week. Geekily psyched about my new discovery.

On a side note, I made kale chips while I was home, and they're awesome. Trader Joe's makes it even easier too. I bought a bag of pre-chopped and rinsed kale and literally just tossed it in some EVOO and sea salt and spread it out on a cookie sheet. After a few minutes baking, presto! A salty snack that I couldn't put down. The downside is it doesn't really keep well, but that just means I'll eat all my greens in one sitting :)

2011 in Review

2012-01-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Talula's post, here's my amended year in review:

What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Started optometry school: the most exciting, frightening, and challenging experience of my life thus far.

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I doubt it, but I continue to make new resolutions. I hope 2012 will be filled with more yoga, positive energy, and non-school book reading.

What countries did you visit?
No non-American visits, but summer 2012 will involve a return to Thailand.

What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
More compassion.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Passing my first semester of optometry school.

Where did most of your money go?
Easy: tuition.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
A three-week winter break from school.

What song(s) will always remind you of 2011?
Ditto, Beck: Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." I oddly haven't gotten sick of it.

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Happier. I'm fulfilling my dream, have a sweet and supportive other half, and have met so many talented and sharp classmates that I look forward to calling colleagues.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastinating, aka Pinterest.

Favorite TV show?
Merlin, Dexter, Sherlock, and guilty pleasures Project Runway and Bachelor(ette).

What was the best book you read?
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (wife of Jonathan Safran Foer)

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Adele, I suppose. I am far too behind on music these days than I would like.

What was your favourite film of this year?
Bridesmaids. I had no idea what I was in for, and it's been a long time since I laughed that much.

What did you do on your birthday?
Is it a bad sign if I don't remember?

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
My school uniform: ombre hair bun + chunky glasses + loose top or T + flats

What kept you sane?
My new-found study group of Asians from every nation, haha. They're constantly positive, motivated, and helpful.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
If I still lived in California, I'm sure Ryan Gosling would have had a restraining order out on me by now.

What political issue stirred you the most?
The Occupy movement and Republican candidate shenanigans.

Who did you miss?
Friends and family all over, from California to Washington, DC and everywhere in between.

Who was the best new person you met?
My pharmacology and part-time biochemistry professor, Dr. Hua. The whole class grumbled about his accent and fast talk the first few lectures, but by the end of the semester, we all loved his surprising jokes ("Shake it, baby!") and sincere concern for his students.

The Best and the Worst

2012-01-01T11:09:00.000-08:00

Enjoying a "Surf" = hot chocolate + coffee in Huntington Beach, CA

The best and the worst part of my optometry program is how much they emphasize planning today for our 2015 graduation. How we want to practice. What we want to practice. Where we want to practice. Certainly, planning any of that isn't easy. Ideally, I'd stay on the West Coast, but Portland is so oversaturated and will continue to be as many of my non-Oregonian classmates talk about adopting Oregon as their home state. Seattle is a better bet, but it's not the idyllic mainstay for me like it once was. Friends have changed and or moved away, so it'd still be a new start. My parents will eventually move back to the West Coast I suspect, so I won't feel so distant from loved ones.

I have all these lofty goals for what I'd like to specialize in, but ultimately I keep going back to the idea of writing a blog for fashion eyewear and trends. The publications that currently exist are abysmal (think a D-list Vogue where all the "editorial" is really just ads). It could be fun to also incorporate street style photos of real people in their own cool specs. I don't think it'd be that difficult of an idea to launch, seeing as I currently work at a practice with cool independent lines, and the glasses-wearing hipsters that thrive in Portland would make for plenty of content. Perhaps a summer launch...

Happy NYE from Zooey and JGL

2011-12-30T07:42:00.000-08:00

No snow, fo' sho'

2011-12-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

While constant rain doesn't exactly spell Christmas (what's going on in PDX now), neither does blissful sunshine. Thankfully, I experienced the latter in SoCal last week. The best gift I received was learning I passed my first semester of optometry school. In the end, it was a slight curve in the grades plus lots of agonizing hard work that saved me. I feel more confident going into spring and can't wait to conquer my first year. Actually, the even better gift was being surrounded by my family: my parents, my sister, my cousins, and their parents, who have had unwavering support behind me in my bouts of defeat and despair.

I have until January 9, 2012 to be blissfully brain dead, at least in the academic sense. I have a stack of books I'm anxious to read through; I'm almost done with the first, Coetzee's Disgrace, recommended to me by a dear friend who I wish wasn't quite so far away in Austin. Finding more time to nurture my non-academic side is at the top of my 2012 resolutions, so reading more fiction and doing yoga even if only once a week are my hopes to stay more balanced. Wishing everyone a happy 2012!

2011-11-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

Max: one of four pups at this year's Thankgiving

Thought collection:
1. Finals doom descends in about 10 days.
2. Yesterday for a sports optometry class, I collected scientific data that confirmed what I already know: I'm extremely clumsy and uncoordinated. Why I was ever allowed to play organized sports is beyond me.
3. Our equipment arrives next Tuesday. Just in time to distract us from studying. (Although Pinterest is doing plenty for procrastination these days.)
4. Dear Stress: You and I need to break up. Love C.

Halloween Interlude

2011-11-11T00:29:00.000-08:00

Buried in another slough of exams, but wanted to make a quick post with some Halloween photos I haven't gotten around to posting to the ol' FB. I randomly went as the rock band Kiss with some classmates, mostly for the excuse to do something fun and unexpected. No one recognized us, and we ended up winning top costume! We're already plotting for next year.

And Then the Stars Aligned

2011-11-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

It's studying as usual, but today was quite the refresher. After a morning midterm, I feel surprisingly alert having stayed up 'til 2 a.m. hyped up on badly bitter Starbucks coffee (it's what they serve on campus). After the test, instead of building my anxiety by hanging around with my classmates and yammering about it, I snuck away to the AMIGOS room to verify some glasses to build up points to possibly go on a trip this spring. The chilling quiet and do-gooder fuzzy feelings kept me in high spirits once I returned back for our next lecture. Then we had a continuing education luncheon regarding the different optometry tradeshows. I plan on going to Chicago for one this summer (the more fun one) and then to the more academic one in 2012 when I have more knowledge to hold up my end of the conversation with other O.D.s.

I also got a surprise phone call from my hair maven that she wanted to give me a complimentary refresher color in exchange for shooting a photo for a local magazine. Considering I just spent $3000 today on optometry equipment (granted, stuff I'll use the rest of my career), I am beyond the moon for the offer! When I originally got it done, I was expecting it to be the last time in a decade I would have the time and money to treat myself like that.

And to top that off, sushi date tonight! Just doesn't get much better. Except that tomorrow's FRIDAY.

Ms. Brightside

2011-10-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Photo from the Pre-K vision screening I did in Hillsboro, OR

I'm happy to report I survived the first round of midterms, or rather, mostly survived. Physics is still my sore subject and always has been, so I'll be focusing a lot of positive energy there.

Eyeball consisted of a bunch of optometric nerds bidding each other out for optical gadgets in the silent auction and being silly on the dance floor. There was only one item I was interested, the BIO headlamp, and it already shot past my planned maximum bid $1,500 when I got there. I only took a few photos, so I'll post them soon.

Survivor

2011-10-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Whew! I survived the hardest midterm so far, pharmacology. We had a list of almost 100 drugs to memorize, and that was cut down from another list three times its size. I'm still struggling with the fact that I have to be an optometry zombie 24 hours of the day (I even have optometric dreams). Another thing about being a zombie: Even on our one-hour lunch breaks between lecture and lab, we don't get a break from optometry. We frequently have speakers or like today, manufacturer reps to pitch us their products. Technically you don't have to stay, but I think knowledge is power and I'd rather know something's not useful than to not know about it at all. We'll be spending several thousands of dollars in the next few weeks on BIOs (spacey head piece things), diagnostic kits (those handheld devices doctors use to look into your eyes), and lens kits to make up mock prescriptions for people. As exhausting as it is, I am still so enthralled with every new day and experience.

I'm in the library trying to desperately concentrate for another midterm this Monday. Look how well I'm concentrating! ;) I'm excited about Eyeball this weekend, a fancy fundraiser for a nonprofit at Pacific's optometry school. I'm even more excited to have booked my plane ticket to Orange County, CA for Christmas and to get to see my family. The more time goes on, the less I feel a home in Kansas, but always certainly where my family is.

Okay, now to find something else to distract me from studying...

Strategery

2011-10-14T19:54:00.001-07:00

I try and stay positive, but life is not all pumpkin picking and cider sipping. It's really hard to not want to outpour all the negativity and anxiety I've been having (midterms have not gone well) on the blog, and the next week will be a test of my strength as I re-stratergize with midterms keep rolling in. I really didn't realize school would be this hard, and unfortunately it's harder for me than for others (though it's hard on everyone). It may also mean that I no longer keep a blog, as much as I like writing for it.

Legit

2011-10-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Trailer: Young Adult

2011-10-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

The latest from the Juno screenwriter. I'm really digging Charlize Theron as a grouchy former prom queen.

Oh, and I survived the worst week yet of optometry school. Relentlessly taxing. I spent more time in the library than I did sleeping. I really did nothing but eat, sleep, and study optometry. Next Tuesday is my anatomy midterm followed by a blissful, but short, fall break.

Drowning in Optometry

2011-10-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

The vision screening was great, and the biggest thing I gained is that I should learn Spanish. At least half the kids had Spanish as their first language, and when you have an extremely shy tot, you need all the help you can get for them to interact with the tests.

Quick life week summary: Helped Ryan move into his new downtown digs last weekend, which included hours of Ikea-furniture building with a rewarding delicious dinner at a Portland classic, Higgins. Their burger warrants many return visits. I have my Neuroanatomy midterm Thursday and Optics midterm Friday. On top of that, GWCO, the Great Western Conference of Optometry, happens this week, and our clinical director has really been pressuring us to go to start networking. I have a networking dinner with the Optometric Association of Washington Thursday, a wine tasting Friday with local optometrists, and then Continuing Education courses bright and early Saturday followed by free swag loading in the exhibition hall. I will also be spending the weekend studying for next week's Anatomy midterm.

The last few weeks have been a huge wake-up call. I've been performing poorly, but I think the first month is all about testing new study strategies and losing bad ones. So far, not so good, but it's a work in progress, and all is not said and done.

Me and the Canuck

2011-10-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

My roommate Kathy and I celebrating a classmate's birthday at a Portland piano bar

Canadian language quirks I've learned from living with one...
1. She calls the garbage disposal the "garbonator."
2. Easy Mac is called "Kraft dinner."
3. After asking a rhetorical question, she ends the sentence with "hey?"

She's awesome!

Trailer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

2011-09-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

While I'm pretty much optometry-focused all of the time (it's sickening), I do dream of the days I'll have time to watch new movies. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close comes out over winter break, so I will definitely find the time. Jonathan Safran Foer is one of my favorite authors, if not my favorite of all. He paints such whimsical storylines weaved with humor that are easy reads and not as mind-numbing as chick lit. Maybe I'm tired and volatile from my morning exam, but I almost bawled while watching this trailer. I may also just be on a Tom Hanks kick, because I heard "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" recently and felt warm and fuzzy thinking of Sleepless in Seattle. Here's the trailer. Hopefully it inspires you to check out one of Jonathan's books, or at the least, check out the movie!

Backpacking

2011-09-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

My new backpack just arrived! My last one just wasn't cutting it. Some of the straps were so long they got caught in my bike spokes and it was really made for hiking anyways. There is so much more room in this new one, and it's waterproof, which will be useful once the rain season inevitably kicks in. I also got a locker at school too, so hopefully I won't have osteoporosis in four years.

So I had a pretty dreadful Monday due to a bad exam, but things picked up this morning with an awesome skills test, where I showed I could examine visual acuity, eye motilities (making sure no eye muscles are out of whack), pupil responses, phorias, and tropias. I have a Behavioral Science exam tomorrow, which is a very conceptual class, so who knows what it'll be like. Right after, I'll be off to Hillsboro, a neighboring city, to do my first vision screening at an elementary school. We'll be testing about 20 three- to five-year-olds. Should be fun!

Every Optometrists' Worst Nightmare

2011-09-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Words that Hurt My Brain

2011-09-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Glycophosphatidylinositolglycan

Say that three times fast. First big test in biochem tomorrow.

Test Anxiety

2011-09-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

It's almost comical how much I'm a poster child for test anxiety. I had a test yesterday, and while I could've studied more, I felt confident while taking the test, only to have it pulled from under me when I got my result. I immediately had pain in my upper left abdominals, which I had to endure for three more hours for lectures when all I wanted to do was lay down in a quiet dark room. Ironically, today a psychologist/counselor came in with a preventative test anxiety talk and the first four symptoms described exactly me. Procrastinating. Being a perfectionist. Expecting to do bad because of past experiences. Physical pains. I'm not a perfectionist, per say, but I definitely strive to be better than average, which is hard to do when I'm surrounded by so many amazing and smart cohorts.

I've already started overhauling my routine. It really is drastically different from undergrad. Studying three hours a day after school isn't nearly enough.

And don't get me wrong, I'm loving every minute of it. It's just the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and it's a five-year battle. (First three years are academic, fourth year rotations, and likely a fifth year residency for me.) I can't believe it's already been a month!

Ocular Arts and Crafts

2011-09-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

We made styrofoam eyeballs today with strips of masking tape oriented specific ways to demonstrate how the extraocular muscles move the eye in specific directions. Really helpful in visualization and beats the usual grind. And now back to that grind, studying drugs. Just say no.

Words of Wisdom

2011-09-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

"If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. Live in the present."

Good words to live by! Especially now for me. Trying to live in the present, and with a yoga class finally popping up at a dance studio a few blocks from me, I will be well on my way. I'll be heading into the lab today to look at real bone skulls to identify the bones of the ocular orbit and later try and wrangle some drug knowledge for my pharmacology class. Sometimes I feel like I need to be on drugs to retain this drug info, but so far sleep and rest have been my best prescription.

HIPAA House Party

2011-09-17T00:04:00.000-07:00

All optometry students are required to be HIPAA certified before working with patients. (HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that has been created by the federal government to protect patient's private information.) After five days of information overload, it's very difficult to find motivation to be productive on a Friday night. A classmate of mine had the genius idea to host a HIPAA training "party" (we individually did it online, but roundtable style with refreshments), and little did I know that it would take three hours! Being in good company definitely made it more enjoyable and we could help each other out and gossip, rant, and rave. It felt so good to get a little done and remind me that I'm in this difficult program with a league of other amazing, supportive people. Unfortunately for HIPAA, I basically spent three hours learning the obvious: don't give out patient information. Duh.

Recap: Annual Beach Party

2011-09-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Photo of Rockaway Beach from the Oregon State Archives

It's funny how more than 24 hours away from studying makes it so difficult to dive in again. Friday night I went to "study" at a friend's newly renovated house, which of course meant we actually spent the whole night talking about all the cool details and knowledge she's learned while doing it herself. She bought beautiful recycled schoolhouse lamps and her place has this wonderful modern 1940s feel to it.

After working a busy shift at the office Saturday with one man down, I immediately left Portland with a pit stop at home to trek out to Rockaway Beach, where the optometry students were holding their annual beach party. I got there just before sunset, so the group had already thinned out, but it was nice to relax on the beach and actually have conversations with classmates that didn't revolve about how overwhelmed we were with school. My roommate arrived a few hours later even after having run Warrior Dash, which is a crazy muddy obstacle-ridden race. What a trooper. Everyone was tired so we didn't last long before returning to FoGro (that's Forest Grove). We stopped at a 24-hour Denny's to refuel in Tillamook, where the cows make such a stink, that you can still smell it indoors. Appetizing.

I have a quiz in Behavioral Optometric Science and Basic Science for Optometry (sounds much easier than it is... it's more like advanced biochemistry) this week, and the usual barrage of heavy information. It's gonna be another loooong week.

Schedule from the Depths

2011-09-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

So here's my fall 2011 schedule:
1. Basic Science for Optometry (Not so basic... more like advanced biochemistry.)
2. Basic Science lab
3. Geometric and Physical Optics I (Great. Physics still gets to haunt me.)
4. Optics Lab
3. Anatomy of the Visual System (One of the more clear cut classes to me.)
6. Anatomy Lab
7. Clinical Procedures I (Learning skills we'll actually perform on patients.)
8. Clinical Procedures I Lab
9. Behavioral Optometric Science
10. Behavioral Lab
11. Essentials of Medical Pharmacoloy (Worst of the worst: over 200 drugs to memorize.)
12. Functional Neuroanatomy and Neuroanatomy (Surprisingly my favorite class. Super interesting to see how neurologically related problems show up in the eye.)
13. Patient Care I (Kind of an instructional how-to on how to be prepared to see patients.)
14. Practice Management I (Our teacher should be the new ShamWow spokesman.)

Comings and Goings, Mostly Just Goings

2011-09-07T20:19:00.001-07:00

Photo of the Pacific University vision clinic, where I'll start seeing patients in a year and a half!

For the sake of future time and blog space, just assume every post is written by a highly overwhelmed Charissa. Since 6 a.m. yesterday, I have been either in lab, class, at an informational optometric organization meeting or studying (with the necessary sustenance breaks to keep going), and only now, the next evening, had time to be frivolous with my time. Which I already feel guilty about, but it is necessary for my sanity. Let's not talk about it.

I just came back from an informational session about AMIGOS, which is an amazing organization at our school that coordinates international trips to provide vision care at no cost to under-served populations. The trips limit 10 students, so spots are competitive and are earned on a point system. I'm aiming to go on one in my first year, so fingers' crossed.

Besides my one Saturday shift at the optometry office, I'll be heading to the Oregon coast for the annual all-optometry-classes get-together. It's one of those things that's whispered and gossiped about, because apparently, optometry students know how to party and the past ones have gotten pretty rowdy. (As in, we're not supposed to tell people we're Pacific optometry students any more because of past years.) There's definitely a partying crowd in my class, and while I'm not one of them, we're so busy buried in information during school that I rarely get to know these people that I'll be in close quarters with for four years.

Now, back to the books!

Overdone

2011-09-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

With classmates at a scavenger hunt during orientation at Pacific University.

The overdue update! I expected school to be hard but it is beyond what I imagined. I have hard enough of a time keeping up with organizing my planner (which I need to replace with one twice as big), let alone the actual work. And we're inundated with social functions for clubs or straight-up parties (these people who can drink and study are beyond my realm of abilities), so I'm thrown into the tumble dryer, trying to find my balance. It's already worthwhile though, because we learned how to do visual acuity (the first test with the E chart), and I've already signed up to do an elementary school vision screen later this month. Egads. Already doing doctor-like things!

Most my classmates are fresh out of undergrad, and I already feel a slight generation gap. Most never touch a pen to paper, and the clatter of a keystrokes fill the room. Which has no windows. And we sit in all day as the teachers rotate. Talk about mindless. I'm really trying to break bad study habits (procrastinating and doing the bare minimum), which is why I think the first week was so difficult. My expectations for my new self have not yet been met.

And don't even get me started on this rural living mumbo jumbo.

tbc

2011-08-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

new look. new city. new adventures. new posts! soon.