The Illinois College of Optometry Student Blog

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Marsha Benshir, a leader in neuro-optometric rehabilitation and development. She told me something I will never forget: “Vision is the route through which we touch the mind. It is the process of deriving meaning from what is seen.” She explained that a patient could look at their own hand, a hundred, a thousand times… but if they do not have meaning associated with it, they are unable to recognize it as their own, and therefore, are

I know it’s hard to believe there will be any extra time for anything but studying once you’re in optometry school. Many of us really do spend endless number of sleepless nights before exams. But you’d be surprise at the things you can do outside O-school. Sometimes I think about the personal statement I wrote when I was applying to schools. How many different ways could I indicate “I would like to help others” without sounding cliche or absolutely tacky?! Yes, it’s important

It’s awesome visiting a private practice, because while I’m certain that ICO will train me to eventually become a competent optometrist, the business side of running a successful optometry practice is something that I don’t believe can fully be taught in any institution. In speaking to different optometrists who own a practice, almost all of them tell me, “Optometry is easy, but business management isn’t.” Before I came to ICO, I worked at an optometry office, and I thought I