A series of articles written by SCCO Student Ambassadors.

Be a Trailblazer! Start that Club!

by SCCO Student Ambassador, Emma Concepcion

Graduating from UC Merced this past Spring was one of my biggest accomplishments; however, being the one to start a pre-optometry club at the university and spread awareness of one of the most important fields of healthcare definitely tops that.

I knew I wanted to pursue optometry from a very young age. I started shadowing and interning in high school and knew this was the profession I wanted to go into. So, when I started college and saw that there was no club for students interested in optometry, I knew I had to do something.

Optometry is a constantly evolving field of practice and needs more recognition, especially from the younger generation. I asked my friend, who is also interested in optometry, if she would like to revive the pre-optometry club that had been inactive for years with me. We worked together to write the club constitution, acquired a club advisor, and successfully recruited over ten members. I connected members with OD students and faculty from different schools to offer OD school information, preview days, and shadowing opportunities.

These types of connections will help provide numerous avenues for you and your members to get a good amount of exposure to the field. Creating the club brought awareness of the importance of optometry to campus while providing direction and opportunities to our members.

So…my advice to you…if you don’t already have a pre-optometry club at your university, be a trailblazer and start that club!

Get to know your professors, faculty, and TAs. If you ask nicely, one of them could be your potential club advisor. Our club advisor was a professor that focused on vision research, specifically ophthalmology research, so you could also find an advisor whose research centers around vision since they would be more interested in showing up to your meetings and actually being your advisor.

Utilize all your resources. Attend the summer programs that some OD schools hold to network with OD students and professors. Check out the school websites and email people to see if they could take an hour out of their day to speak to the club about their optometric journey. Take campus tours (if applicable) to get familiar with the schools and what they have to offer. It’s these kinds of connections will help build your club and create more opportunities for your members to be more engaged and learn about why optometry is such an amazing profession!

Get involved on campus. Take those “How to run a club” mini classes. Learn how to successfully fundraise so you can plan to take your club to OD campus tours.

Tell your friends about the pre-optometry club. Tell them to tell their friends. Take initiative. Be assertive. Be confident. And also have fun with it!

Being the first to start a pre-optometry club will make you a competitive applicant by showing your aptitude for leadership and the ability to recognize and problem-solve – which is exactly what the admissions committee looks for :))

Click here to read Emma’s bio and meet other Student Ambassadors at Ketchum.edu.

Read more about the Benefits of Belonging to a Pre-Optometry Club!