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| Being caught up with the excitement of having finished writing exams in ICO forever as of yesterday and leaving Chicago for the next few months, I just wanna take a moment to thank everyone who I have crossed paths with these 3 awesome years here. There's been a lot of trial, frustration, but also a lot of happy memories filled with fun and laughter. I will certainly miss seeing everyone every day in the overcrowded (or empty  ) lecture hall (but not miss the actual lecture - aka afternoon naps  ). How fast time flies. It only seemed like yesterday that we were lining up to get our white coats and the next time we sit all together again will be next year during grad. Thanks everyone for being part of my time here! Congrats to class of 2008! You're gonna make awesome doctors! Will miss u guyz a lot too. Good luck to Class 2009 - we'll have a great yr of adventure and stories to share. Some happy memories in no particular order.... bday celebrations/ surprises...outings w. good food and great company... random last min dinner drop-ins... walks along Lake Michigan... Millenium Park outings... sibling hangouts... cookoffs... July 4 & Navy Pier fireworks  ....SVOSH Honduras 2008!.. tetris attack marathons... homemade desserts.... MCA nights... majong spurts... badminton intramurals... thanksgiving dinners.... aquarium chats... suite parties... chocolate cake... orientation guide... dim sum w. chicken feet  ... IOA conferences... Eyeball... ping pong craze... cup of freshly ground coffee... 1203 crew... left handers anonymous... summer bike rides... Amazing Cheesecake Race... potluck.. pool breaks... ICO Olympics.. friday night salsa/swing... twelve bars... feed the TA... black friday sales... concerts & shows... random visitors... Boston AOA... John Hancock w/c tour... Canadians invasion at the airport... Target runs... museum tours... Mag Mile Shopping... RC BBQs... heart chats.... workout buddies... mailbox surprises... & much more.... 
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| We're well-educated, technological savy, yet our financial literacy is 'abysmal'. Not to mention that loans and financial products are more complex than ever compared to a decade ago, we are needing more and more education, and education costs are sky-rocketing. Our generation has this false impression that "some technological advancement that's going to get [us] out of [our] financial troubles and outsmart the market." Our economy is in for a real roller coaster if enough of this generation cannot budget well enough to afford their homes, causing the housing market to slide, and the economy thereafter. http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/savingsdebt/insight/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6999442 I think the concept of electronic money is another thing to blame. People have less of a grasp of how much they really have when buying, selling, banking, etc. is done in the digital age. It's just another number on the screen basically.
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| Seems that I like to stare out of windows a lot. Esp. when I really should be studying for neuro. Looking at these pix makes me want to buy a better digicam. So much background noise. Any suggestions? I might aim for a SLR cuz I just can't give up manual.. the color comes out soo much nicer. Can anybody believe that Chicago is supposed to be snowing again tm? It's practically May! Brrrr.. again..need to take out those winter jackets. Can't wait to get away to some nice sunshine soon.  
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| Thank you to everyone who offered their support and well wishes for my SVOSH mission. It was an awesome experience and has charged up my enthusiasm and dedication to providing vision care and services.
I cannot believe how quickly the week flew by while I was in Honduras. It has been quite an adventure, thrill, and an eye-opening experience (literally!).
 We had a team of approximately 160 people made of doctors (both ophthalmologists and optometrists), medical personnel, translators, and many dedicated volunteers. We had a total of 21 students from Illinois College of Optometry and 5 students from New York – this is one of the largest SVOSH trips ever! Our team provided vision care for over 2600 people in 4 days! I still remember being in awe the first day as our bus pulled into the school where we did our screenings at 7am and already there were hundreds of people in line. It’s truly a gratifying feeling.
Every morning we were up before dawn and at the site ready to start before 7:30am. Our student group was split up into 4 groups and stationed to a different task every day. My first day was spent doing screenings. We performed direct ophthalmoscopy to get a look at the optic nerve and retina at the back of the eye, non-contact tonometry (the air puff machine) to check the eye pressure, and noted any gross findings. We had other people on the team that operated the auto-refractor to get an estimation of the patient’s prescription before they headed off to the refraction station. I must admit that it was very exhausting the first day to be in a small classroom with a minimal of thirty people when it was probably 95-100F. It was very also challenging to communicate with people, but I learnt minimal Spanish to get me by e.g. open your eyes wide. Some of my classmates who had taken Spanish during their undergraduate had an easier time. Nonetheless, it was a great learning experience. We screened over 700 people that very first day!
 My team was stationed at the eyewear dispensary the next day. VOSH had brought a ton of boxes of neutralized, neatly organized glasses that have been donated by the public. There was also a very large stock of sunglasses. You can imagine it as a mini warehouse. It was a really different approach – we fit patients to glasses versus the other way around. In exceptional cases, patients got a custom-made pair if their prescription was very high or had a lot of astigmatism. This station was much easier to manage since we had a large team of excellent translators, but it was still very challenging to hunt for the pair of perfect glasses as each box held a large range of prescriptions.
The following day my team was stationed at refraction armed with some loose lenses, our retinoscope, occluders, penlights, and different types of eye drops. Unlike here in Chicago, all these patients were practically hyperopic. I had under 10 myopes the entire day. The eye drops were given to people with allergies, infection, or dry eye (apparently everyone has burning and tearing red eyes!). We also gave out sunglasses to patients with pterygium. Patients were dilated if we felt it was necessary and sent off to surgery if they had dense bilateral cataracts.
 My last day was spent at a local hospital headed by observing cataract surgery with the ophthalmologist team. It was cool being scrubbed in and watching the surgery under the microscope. You cannot help but admire the intricate handwork and skill it takes to perform ocular surgery. Our team of students prepared the patients for surgery by taking basic measurements on their eye, giving them eye drops, preparing the beds, etc. We also got to look at the patients who returned for their follow-up after their cataract surgery the day before. Dr. Waltz and his team were very welcoming and friendly – it was a great experience.
On my free day, I joined a bus tour that took me to the ancient Mayan ruins of Copan located about 2.5 hours west of San Pedro Sula where we did our screenings. The ruins are still being excavated bit by bit as it has been engulfed by trees and forest on most parts. It was fun and exhausting hiking up (or down?) the temples for over two hours. Some of the stone statues are beautifully carved and still show a hint of the color that they once were painted with. We also stopped at a coffee plantation and the little town of Copan as part of the tour.
This trip was a perfect balance of work and leisure. It was a bit tiring to get up 5am every morning so that we could be on site by 7:30am, but it was well worth it. We were back at the hotel by late afternoon every day in time to enjoy the sunshine and the pool. It was great exploring the markets and the food is excellent as well. Both transportation and meals were fairly cheap. One cannot help but be aware of the stricken poverty here and how low the standard of living really is. There are endless squatters living at the side of the roads with houses made of wood planks and metal sheet as roofs. It makes one appreciate all the small things one has.
 I was very blessed and inspired to meet a team of very dedicated people, optometrists, volunteers, and other health professions alike. These are people who have education, talent, and simply want to offer up a bit more to the world. I really enjoyed this trip and appreciated the opportunity to connect with so many people while providing vision care. A big thank you to all those who gave me support and encouragement to attend this mission. Keep in touch.
"Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things." | | |
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