Waking up at 5:00 a.m. for a few days seemed totally doable until I realized we had crossed an earlier time zone. 4:00 a.m. is tough, but it was one hundred percent worth it.   In early January, I had the pleasure of traveling 6 hours with some classmates to volunteer for two days at a Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic in east Tennessee. Part of the vision team on our first day   What is RAM? SCO volunteers Class of 2027 volunteers   In the nearly 40 years since its inception, RAM has provided almost 1 million underserved individuals with free medical care. In addition to medi ..read more

Anyone who has been through a professional program can tell you how much time you’ll spend studying and practicing lab skills, how intensive and stressful it is, and the sheer volume of things you’ll learn during your time in school. But they might not think to mention the fun experiences and things you can do while you’re not at school! Many SCO students pride themselves on maintaining a school-life balance throughout their time in Memphis, myself included. Between weekend road trips and shows at the Orpheum, being a student in Memphis offers plenty opportunity to explore the cultural diversi ..read more

Hi everyone! My name is Alexandra Allen, and I just finished the fall term as a second year at SCO. Second year has definitely been more rigorous, but so rewarding. It has really made me appreciate the foundation we laid out in the first year through our introductory courses, such as Optics, Anatomy & Physiology, and especially Theory & Methods. Our schedules are jam-packed with classes, labs, school screenings, practicals, exams, etc., but as a result, we have learned an enormous amount and acquired so many new skills in just a few months. It is crazy to think that in the not-too-dist ..read more

Applying to optometry school can be both exhilarating and daunting, with numerous factors to consider in selecting the institution that aligns best with your goals and lifestyle. When I found myself making this decision, I felt a touch of paranoia about the application process. Looking back, I realize that applying to 11 schools may have been excessive, I should've probably taken the advice to keep it between 3-5 schools more seriously. You live and learn, right? One of the foremost factors that weighed heavily on my mind was the location of the optometry school. As a married individual with t ..read more

About Me Hi everyone! My name is Carson Rainbolt and I am an incoming OD1 in the SCO Class of 2027! I am from the bustling city of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, which has a population of around 35,000 people- only slightly fewer than Memphis ;) I did my undergrad at Oklahoma State University (go pokes!) and graduated with a degree in Biology as well as minors in Zoology and Entrepreneurship. I worked at an optometry clinic in my hometown during summer and winter breaks as a tech for five years, which allowed me to experience the good and bad parts (but lots more good than bad) of optometry, and con ..read more

Hello, my name is Andrew Murphy, and I am a current 4th year at SCO! More on that later. I’m going to talk about the different years you will spend in optometry school, and the loose details of the journey you will undertake. First Year  Your first year is like learning a whole new language. You will cover what you learned about optics in your undergrad physics class inside of the first day or two, and from then on, it is all new concepts. You’ll learn the ins-and-outs of an exam, and you will begin to understand some of those weird tests you’ve seen—or maybe even performed yourself, if y ..read more

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but what happens when those windows are clouded by the lack of access to eye care? My name is Rafael Martinez, and I'm currently a student in my second year of optometry school. Just a week after my first year ended, I had an amazing opportunity to participate in a SVOSH (Student Volunteers for Optometric Services to Humanity) trip to Mexico. Our mission was simple yet profound: to provide free eye exams and glasses to individuals who lack access to such essential services. SVOSH (Student Volunteers for Optometric Services to Humanity) is a studen ..read more

Wow… I can’t believe I’m officially done with my first year of optometry school! I feel like I was just moving onto Mud Island, then I blinked, and suddenly, I’m walking out of my last final exam. While I’m somewhat sad to give up my title as a first year, I am so proud of all that my classmates and I have accomplished this year. Our new label of “second-years” is certainly well-deserved (38 exams later!). During my first year of optometry school, I surprised myself with the magnitude of information my brain could absorb. I also made some incredible friends and became familiar with my new home ..read more

Hi everyone! I’m Charlotte, a 2nd Year student from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada. It’s still amazing to me that I’ve finished my entire first year of optometry school. I feel like just yesterday I was finishing up orientation and preparing for my first week of classes. But considering how busy I was all year, I’m not surprised that the semesters passed by so quickly. One of the most significant adjustments I had during 1st Year was balancing school with my personal life and free time. What you’ll probably hear from most optometry school students and instructors is that it isn’t impossible wh ..read more

Hi everyone, Paige here. I wanted to write about something really cool that my class is doing. One of my classmates, Tracie T., had a patient one day in clinic who was diagnosed with a disease called keratoconus. Keratoconus is a corneal disease that causes corneal thinning, which results in distorted vision. This is a progressive disease and while there are treatments available, there is no cure. The biggest piece of technology that has improved the vision of keratoconus patients is the development of scleral hard contact lenses. Keratoconus patients are not able to wear regular soft contact ..read more