I. Love. New York.
Don’t worry, I promise this isn’t going to be another soapbox rant from a self-involved New Yorker. You know, the ones where they tell you all about New York’s 24/7 convenience, its seemingly infinite amount of entertainment, its rich cultural populace and its amazingly efficient public transportation? I hate that.
Instead, I’m going to focus on SUNY College of Optometry – the humble optometry school located in the heart of Manhattan across the street from the gorgeous Bryant Park, halfway between Grand Central and Times Square.
Like students at many other optometry schools around the country, SUNY students subscribe to the ethic of “work hard, play hard”. Since it is summer time right now, I’m going to skip talking about the SUNY work ethic that led to our most recent graduating class achieving a 99% passage rate on NBEO Part 1. Instead, I’m going to briefly mention some of the ways we escape from the world of optometry that can sometimes take over our lives.
On the subject of similarities, SUNY of course hosts its own EyeBall each year. This year SUNY students had a blast getting dolled up and celebrating at Arno Ristorante in Times Square. For the first time we provided a photo booth at our EyeBall, and I would highly recommend you do the same if your school hasn’t done so already.
SUNY also hosts its own Student Bowl every year, which is always a student favorite. The bowl is held in SUNY’s own auditorium, and the atmosphere this year was palpable. It’s always great to see students coming out to support their classmates, and it was great to see our winner, third year Matt Bovenzi compete in San Diego!
Unlike most other schools, SUNY students enjoyed the unique advantage of Vision Expo East being held right here in our (figurative) backyard in February. Capitalizing on this great opportunity, SUNY students spent the weekend talking to vendors, learning about the newest products available, networking, and of course snatching up freebies. We were glad so many students from other schools could make the trip, and hope you took some time to enjoy New York.
Not every SUNY experience has to be a big production. Students also had a great time at our annual school softball game this spring, where we enjoyed watching the classes compete with each other in beautiful Central Park. We also had a few class fundraisers over the year at local taverns, where classmates would guest bar-tend and all tips would go towards that class’s graduation fund.
There are of course so many other ways that SUNY students take advantage of this great city, but I don’t want to take away all the mystery and leave you no reason to come visit us. Hope to see you soon!
Stefan Levay-Young
Class of 2015
SUNY AOSA Trustee
