As many of you know, at ICO, we get the summer after our first year off. What we do with this time is entirely up to us. Once we return for second year, however, we have classes and clinic year-round until we graduate. Most students use the summer after their first year to go home to spend time with family and friends, but others travel, or stay in Chicago, or go on their own unique adventures. Here is a short list that reveals how the class of 2019 is spending their summer off.
As I mentioned, most people go home for the summer. It seems like a good way to recuperate after the hectic schedule of 1st year. I, for one, missed my mom’s cooking, not having to worry about rent, utilities, and all of the other things I took for granted when I moved away. Plus, it is always nice to enjoy time with family, catch up with old friends and loved ones, as well as get away from city life for a while. I only went home for about a week before I came back to Chicago, but I enjoyed every moment.
A few of my classmates are taking classes through the summer. There are only a handful of individuals enrolled in the Accelerated Clinical Program. Once they return in the fall, they will be recognized as not second years in the clinic, but third. They also get first choice in rotation sites their 4th year. This is a good way to get ahead and still stay in “school mode” over the summer.
A great deal of the Class of 2019 is traveling. After your first year, you meet tons of people. This creates friends all over the country (and Canada) that make for potential visits over the summer. Me, I’m trying to plan a trip to Vancouver. Traveling is a great way to, again, get away from the big city, enjoy time away from school, and get some site-seeing in while your schedule still permits it.
I decided to go home to Michigan for a bit and then return to Chicago for the remainder of the summer. I have a job at the Fitness Center as well as at an optical downtown. I wanted to see what it would be like to spend a summer in Chicago without any scholastic demands. I also thought it would be cool to work for an optometrist after having a year of school under my belt.
However you choose to spend your summer, be sure to enjoy it. This is the last summer we have off before the demands of doctor school become too great to permit another break like this. Whether you are relaxing in your hometown, enrolled in a summer program, traveling around the country, or staying in Chicago and working a bit, make sure you make time for yourself.