Covid is a current global pandemic, but the loss of vision has been a global pandemic for years before covid was ever conceived. It is an issue that most people do not even realize is an issue. Lack of resources, proper environment, and health care workers are just a number of reasons people can not see. Loss of vision has been, as I mentioned a global pandemic, but it is also a social issue as economic resources are a major factor is this issue. Macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts are the leading causes of blindness in the world. According to the NIH (National Eye Insitute, 2002), "Over one million Americans aged 40 and over are currently blind and an additional 2.4 million are visually impaired. These numbers are expected to double over the next 30 years as the Baby Boomer generation ages." Fewer people are joining vision care, and more and more people are unable to see an eye doctor. Whether because they don't have the funds or there is not a doctor with whom they can make an appointment with, or they do not have transportation. Being a vision care student is the first step to solving this serious issue of oncoming blindness. Blindness and just unreceived care are one of the big reasons why our roles as current or incoming opticians, optometrists, and ophthalmologists are so important. It will be our job to help and to educate when we can to those who are unable to get care or who just do not know better. As a student, I have already participated in health fairs where we have given glaucoma screenings to the public. This is a way to inform the public of how important our eye health is and why it is important to see an eye doctor regularly. Once I finish my program and get my license, I would like to be able to volunteer more at other health fairs and expos, to be able to go to schools to educate and go to other places to give my experience to those without means to get the care they need elsewhere. I also would like to open my own optical once I graduate. Doing so would allow me the opportunity to give a portion of profits to non-profits that work to solve this social issue as well. Or I can use profits and put them in a fund to give back.

Good vision is something most people take for granted. The importance is not understood until a person's vision starts to deteriorate and some people do not even get to experience it at all. I was unfortunate enough to get corrective eyewear when I was ten and honestly, I don't even know if I really needed them. I just wanted them. I found myself in the optician field in 2021 as people were starting to go back to work post Covid. I had a friend who was a traveling optician and with Covid, he needed to pivot. He opened a new brick and mortar store with his Ophthalmologist partner. This meant he needed opticians to work the store so he could travel between his other opticals until he could go back to the offices. I already had a long resume in retail management and sales, already wore corrective eyewear, and loved learning new skills. I was thrown into the trenches quickly having to learn insurance billing, lenses and coatings, and how to work an EMR. I have bounced around from billing, selling, and even learning to pretest. I was there for a short amount of time until I had to leave due to the birth of my second born and sadly she had too many health issues at the time for me to stay. The opportunity however showed me that this was where I needed to be. This office was geared towards pediatrics, although the location also brought in a much older and lower-income patient base. We had many young patients, as young as newborns, who couldn't see, had diplopia (double vision), and even strabismus (lazy eye). I have seen a young child with congenital cataracts. These conditions break my heart. Anytime we were able to give a child a pair of glasses and see their faces light up it was a good day. Working there made me realize how needed we as optical professionals are. From there, I decided to go back to school to acquire my optician's license. Taking these optical courses made me even more aware of the vision crisis in the world and much more so in my own backyard. Living in Florida one of our own counties has one of the highest rates of uncorrected vision just due to low income and not having the resources to correct or even check their eye health. There are not nearly enough resources or even manpower in the field to help break down the need for correction. Once fully in the field, I will then have the knowledge and the resources available to me to go out and take time to volunteer to help those without those resources available to them. Also, if I do open my own optical I can set up means to either set a portion of proceeds to send to those areas without means or even set up my own funds to do so.

My family started in 2014 when I got married to my best friend. After about a year and a half, we decided to start trying for our first child. We got pregnant pretty quickly but I did end up having a miscarriage. It was then 4 years before I got pregnant with my first, a boy. We had to take Clomid in order to conceive him. He's now a and a half. When he was one we decided to try for our second, and she came on the first try. Unfortunately, she came with some complications. As for raising a family, I'm lucky to have a robust support system. My husband is very encouraging and my Mother in law is willing to help watch my youngest while I am in class. My husband takes on more of the housework and helps with the kids more when I am taking classes but I am still watching my baby on the days I am not in class which means I need to balance working on school and spending time with her. Our oldest is In school now so that helps during the day. Sadly, as I mentioned our daughter, our baby, had some complications. She was admitted to the NICU for low blood sugar, and stayed for low heart rate, inability to regulate her heart rate and possible infection. She was officially diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism. And one year later she now had a rare dermatological diagnosis after a biopsy, and her care team consists of an Endocrinologist, a Dermatologist, a Neurologist, and a Geneticist, and she attends PT and OT. So now balancing school and taking her to her many doctor appointments is difficult. As for wanting to get into healthcare, it's not as cliche as saying I wanted to help those like my daughter. I have always had an interest in the field. When I was younger I volunteered and was apart of a program called Civil Air Patrol. It is an auxiliary that works directly with the USAF and one of the programs was search and rescue. Being a part of this program introduced me to the world of healthcare as we needed to be CPR certified, and we learned about basic and advanced first aid. It opened doors to my friends who wanted to become paramedics or EMTs. That career path had crossed my mind, but the timing never worked out for me. Most of my work experience is in sales and retail management. I didn't finish college out of high school and it was hard to find work in other fields. I was good in the field and was on the way to a corporate job when my location closed. Covid came when my first was a baby and I wasn't working. When I was pregnant with our daughter I started looking for work again. A friend of mine who is a traveling optician was opening a brick-and-mortar location in partnership with a Pediatric Ophtmalogist. He needed a new optician and I have always been a fast learner and already had a great background in sales. When I started and started to learn, it became more than a job, and it was definitely more than just sales. This was the purpose, the carer I always wanted. I was already familiar with the field as a glasses wearer, I could use my retail skills, but I was also making a difference in being able to help patients being able to see either for the first time or again.

A STEM degree is not one I pursued myself but was fortunate enough, thankfully, to have fallen into my lap. I was about four months pregnant with my second child and was looking for a job. A friend of mine, who is an Optician, was opening a new optical with his partner, an Ophthalmologist. He was a traveling optician but with Covid, they needed to open a new medical office. My friend needed another Optician to work in the store and with my background in sales and retail, and my willingness to learn something new, I was there to help. I also always had an interest in first aid, and the idea of becoming a paramedic or EMT had crossed my mind before. However, after doing some research I found that those professions were not for me. So becoming an Optician was a way to combine my health science interest and my retail skills. While I didn't stay in the position at my friend's optical long, due to the birth of my baby, who also needed extra medical care. It did spark a passion. It's so hard for us to figure out what we want out of life and what we want to do for the rest of our time here on Earth, and some never find their purpose in life. With no college degree, yet, and my only skill set being in retail management I was feeling discouraged. What I was doing didn't bring me a sense of purpose. Did I help people and was I good at what I did? Sure, but it was an empty feeling and just a job. To me, it did not feel like a career path. Being an Optician brought both worlds together. Yes, I am still selling a product. However, I am also changing lives. It's a product people need and a field that isn't going away. When I worked for my friend, this health office was geared toward pediatric patients. We had newborns and 7-year-olds needing help. I had a patient who was 3 years old and had to wear contacts and glasses to help her condition. When we gave a child who could not see their first pair of corrective lenses and their face would light up because they had a whole new world in front of them. It makes everything worth it. We, as opticians, can say we changed that child's way of life.