The Illinois College of Optometry Student Blog

With the conclusion of the holiday season and the new year upon us, I’ve been engaged in my usual end-of-year musings. There’s one thing, in particular, I’ve been giving great thought to. The past year has been a little tumultuous for me in many regards (especially academic.) I’d be lying if I told you I got through it all just by sheer willpower. On the contrary, I had plenty of help. “From who?” Well, my classmates, for one. If trying to succeed at ICO was like a hockey gam

The Beatles said it best, “…Said I’m gonna make it with my friends (Ah, with a little help from my friends) Oh, I’m gonna keep on trying (Ah, with a little help from my friends) I’m gonna keep on trying (Ooh)” On my recent quarter break vacation, I reflected on the crazy year I finished at ICO. My thoughts wandered from big practicals to clinical experience to taking anxiety-inducing exams. I would crack a smile when I remembered some of the tests that I survived by the skin

Orientation has come and gone, but boy, what an experience. I honestly do not know the expectations I had coming into orientation. I thought they would just tell us all about our classes, how hard they would be, and just how much we would be studying. Believe me, we definitely had a talking to about that… but it was so much more! We had so many different speakers come and talk to us. I felt very professional as all of these contact lens and diagnostic tool manufactures came i

The summer between first and second years is the only one ICO students have off from school and I plan on making the very most of it. As first year was coming to an end, I noted a few different things that I wanted to do, like travel to somewhere I’ve never been and read a great new novel. It’s been a while since I’ve read a page-turner and so I’m on the lookout for a great summer read or two. In addition to the bullets on my to-do list, my calendar is speckled with events an