Your new EYEnstein Class Cabinet!

The new class cabinet is excited to make third year the most memorable year at SCCO yet! 

Secretaries: Ashley Nickell and Samantha Kamo

Ask them about: Google calendar and scheduling

Treasurer: Ivan Yong

Ask him about: Budgeting, if you paid for something, accounting-related questions

Vice Presidents: Emma Ly and Jaymie Niida

Ask them about: Fundraisers, end-of-the-year banquet

President: Mitul Patel

Ask him about: Questions you have for the faculty, questions about clinic, questions about daily life as an EYEnstein, etc. 

and last, but not least...

Historian: Casper, the friendly ghost

Ask him about: How you can replace him because you know you can do a better job than him

EOTW: Evelyn Lee!

1. Congrats on your 1 year wedding anniversary! How has being a married student been for the past year?

Even though second year was so busy and so hectic we still found time to enjoy what people call the “honey moon” period of a marriage. John and I have been together for nearly 11 years, and we’ve gone through so much together. I appreciate how supportive he’s been ever since I decided that I wanted to quit my job, sell our house, move to Fullerton and start another four year program. We’re looking forward to a relaxing, wonderful summer vacation once I graduate.

2. Tell us about your pets.

Where do I start?! I love animals so much! I’d be the crazy dog lady if I had the time, space and money to have lots of pets. We currently have 3 shiba inus and 2 tortoises. Ravioli is the tri-colored dog, Roxy is the red one, and Riley is the white one. Riley is the love child of Ravi and Roxy. She’s a crazy one! They are my babies and I love them so much. I spoil them as much as possible. About 6 months ago, we added 2 leopard tortoises to our family; Charlie and Stanley II.  I am told that they will end up weighing about 40 pounds and live about 65 years. Looks like they may end up outliving me.

3. What is your favorite thing to do on days you don't have clinic (aside from studying when tests come around)?

Don’t judge me…. But school is exhausting. And I love watching TV, so whenever I have time, I try to catch up on my shows. I’m a big fan of serial killer storylines, so I currently love The Fall (sometimes it’s tough to understand those Irish boys when they talk fast, but I’m ok with that), Hannibal and Bates Motel. Before I started 2^nd year of school, I was really into running. I loved training for half marathons. Sure 13.1 miles sounds crazy, but trust me, it’s not as crazy as a full marathon. My wall of bibs and medals give me something to look forward to. Once I am able to fully commit to training again, I will definitely sign up for more races. I miss running because it helped me feel relaxed, strong and healthy.

4. What's your favorite city in the world?

This one is a tough one because I love to travel, but I did fall in love with the city of Westminster in London when John and I were there for our honeymoon. Everything about the city was so beautiful and the architecture blew me away. Plus, its home to the Sherlock Holmes museum, so that makes the city even better. Anyone know what I need to do in order to practice optometry in London? I don’t think I’d ever be brave enough to move to London.

5. Tell us something we don't know about you.

Wait! Who’s the teacher in this picture? Sometimes I really miss teaching. I taught 8^th grade science in San Diego for 7 years. The best part of teaching was always hearing about the students’ success stories. The seniors would come back to visit me and ask for advice on how to pick which college they should attend in the fall. It’s pretty neat to say that some of my former students are at prestigious universities. As cheesy as it sounds, I was always meant to help others and make a positive impact on their lives, so I will always look back at my teaching career with fond memories.

First EYEnstein of the week of 3rd year: Emily Stephey!

Get to know Emily a bit better!

1. Your mom is one of the students' favorite professors on campus. How does it feel going to school with her as a professor?

It's definitely a unique experience. Luckily for me she doesn't teach as much lecture as she used to so its not too weird. Sometimes it's tough because I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to not do or say anything stupid in front of the faculty. Everyone wants to make their parents proud and I don't want to embarrass her...even though she embarrasses me in contact lens lecture. Just kidding, that only happened once. But I enjoy it, its nice to have her if I have questions about anything or to go out to lunch with her!

2. You've been a Fullerton local your whole life.. Do you plan on sticking around after graduation? If not, where do you see yourself living/working?

I didn't really plan on staying in Fullerton for my whole life thus far, it kind of just happened that way. I'm leaning towards doing some sort of residency after school so we'll see where that takes me. I enjoy living in Southern California but it's not a requirement for me that I live here after graduation. I don't think I could live anywhere where it snows though, I'm a big pansy when it comes to cold weather. 

3. If you weren't pursuing optometry, what career would you have chosen?

Contrary to what some people think, both of my OD parents didn't push me into optometry. I actually didn't decide I wanted to go to optometry school until junior year of undergrad. So before that when I was deciding what I wanted to do, I was considering going into medical research. I also think it would be fun to be a high school soccer coach. I grew up playing soccer and even played club soccer in undergrad for Cal State Fullerton. I really miss playing soccer so I think it would be fun to coach!

4. What did you do over our week long summer break"

Over our week long break, I went up to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park with my family. I would highly recommend them to any other fellow national park lovers! They're both beautiful and we saw a ton of wildlife in Yellowstone. Bison, bears, foxes, deer, elk, everything! One of the days we pulled the car over because we saw this elk that was across this river that was right next to the road. My mom and I got out of the car to get a better look at it but we were still pretty far away. The road had this huge drop off to the river so we couldn't really see right over the edge. When we were getting out, the elk had crossed the river and was running up the hill right at us. We were like "oh sh*t!" because it looked like it was about to charge us. I used my mom as a human shield and I don't think she enjoyed that very much haha It was an awesome trip though!

5. Tell us something we don't know about you

I'll give you three things. I have my motorcycle license and I had my brown belt in karate when I was about 12 years old. This last one is pretty crazy. My mom and Dr Ridder were in the same optometry class at ICO and now both of their children are in the same optometry class across the country at SCCO, 30 years later!