I hope everyone had a nice relaxing holiday. I was back home in Ottawa (check out the awesome New Year’s fireworks above) and I came to realize how spoiled I’ve been by the mild Chicago weather. Yes, I said “mild,” because there was no snow when I left Chicago. I forgot how brutal Canadian winters can be and as a result, I slept in a lot when I was home. I’m going to regret it later once our twice-a-week-8 a.m.-exams start up again, but it’s so hard not to when it looks like “snowmageddon” outside.
I spent a lot of time holed up in my room trying to come up with a list of resolutions for 2013. Every year I come up with at least five things that I want to accomplish and last year, I managed to accomplish four out of the five, which was a record for me. This year, my biggest resolution is to accomplish all of my resolutions, one of which is to attend at least three optometry meetings. If I can win travel grants, I hope to attend even more.
Throughout the year, the optometry community hosts dozens of meetings and conferences that take place all over the U.S. and Canada, and many are open to students. Below are some meetings and conferences that I’m interested in attending:
January 30-31 Seeing is Believing 2013 Optometric E-Marketing Virtual Conference Look out for me at the OptometryStudents.com virtual booth! I’ll be available with other members of the OptometryStudents.com team to answer questions via live chat.
March 14-17 International Vision Expo and Conference (East) New York City
April 18-21 2013 NORA Conference San Diego
June 26-30 Optometry’s Meeting San Diego
July 10-13 CAO 2013 Congress Edmonton, AB
October 8-12 COVD Annual Meeting Orlando
October 23-26 Academy 2013 Seattle
Coincidentally, one resolution that I make every year is to meet new people and to make new friends. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do just that at these meetings!
What are your resolutions for this year?