The Illinois College of Optometry Student Blog

My kindergarten graduation ceremony was held in my school’s cafeteria. My classmates and I lined up in the hall, then walked in. As everyone else climbed up to the stage, I continued to walk right back out into the hall. I cried and refused to go up until the principal said I could just stand on the stairs behind her. Flash forward to my ICO White Coat Ceremony. My mom, brother, and grandparents were all in Chicago for the weekend. However, they all were unsure if I would get

“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.” -Dalai Lama XIV Every year around this time, emotions are running high. It is the start of a new quarter, the first couple weeks back for the second years, and the first few weeks of optometry school for the first years. I remember how much was packed into my first few weeks as a first year. With

The ICO class of 2020 just received our white coats and furthered our journey to becoming optometrists! I never realized the symbol of the white coat and how much it changes a perspective. The white coat symbolizes all the hard work you put into getting into optometry school. It represents all the tests you had to take, as well as the many more to come. It symbolizes the sacrifices you had to make in order to achieve your goals, and the sacrifices you will make in order to se

On Saturday, August 29th our class of 2019 received our white coats. Personally, I had been looking forward to this moment since my acceptance to ICO. To me, receiving a white coat is a symbol of our past, present and future. The white coat is a symbol of our past because it shows how far we have come. Each of us has worked extremely hard to be here.  We have come from all over the United States (and Canada) to Chicago to pursue a career in optometry. Our backgrounds range fr

Suddenly, I’m a full-fledged optometry student. We just finished our first two weeks of fall quarter and most of my classmates agree that our lives are a whirlwind of classes, clubs, and even some fun (yes, there is time for that still). Taking six classes (feels like nine if you include labs) is no easy feat, but it’s still so exciting to finally be starting the final leg of my education. As the first weekend started, the class of 2017 was revved up for a little fun after a