The Visionary Fall 2009

The Visionary – Fall 2009 • Page 16 her science background by working in a neuro-cancer research lab. However, as she was wrapping up her UCF educational experience, Woodie approached the most important decision of her life to that point—what medical field to pursue. Although there were many areas of medicine that interested her, she was still unsure of her career path. Fortunately, all that changed one day during a conversation with a familiar figure from her life. A Focus Toward Optometry After many years of uncertainty, a conversation with her longtime optometrist set into motion a chain of events that would forever shift her focus to optometry. “I had been going to the same optometrist, Dr. Ismail, since I was seven years old,” Woodie explained. “He had tried to convince me that optometry was an amazing field in the past; I even shadowed him several times in his practice. However, it wasn’t until Dr. Ismail starting telling me about optometric residencies that I could see optometry as an option for me. He told me more about his experience in pediatrics and binocular vision and about the residency that specializes in traumatic brain injury rehab. Hearing that suddenly triggered something inside of me. I started looking into the residencies and discovered I could potentially be working with kids that had eye turns and other binocular vision problems, which were problems my brother was left with after his many surgeries. Finally, I had found a link to my brother. “The idea of going to optometry school just kind of fell into my lap,” she added. “Consequently, because I still wasn’t sure what area I wanted to pursue, I decided to apply to both the optometry and osteopathic medicine programs at Nova Southeastern University. I figured I would know what to do when the time came.” As is often the case with situations such as these, fate intervened in the form of an acceptance letter from NSU’s College of Optometry. There was, however, one caveat. “I was contacted by NSU’s optometry program first, and I was told they were aware that I had also applied to the osteopathic school,” she stated. “I had to make the choice that would be one of the biggest decisions of my life, so I sent a letter to the D.O. program withdrawing my application.” Inevitably, Woodie’s sense of family and desire to spend as much quality time as possible with her loved ones proved to be the deciding factor in her decision-making process. “I liked the idea of having more time with my family, working fairly normal hours, and being minimally on call,” she said. “Growing up, my mom was such a big part of my life. She was always at football games and dance competitions. My parents never missed a UCF game when I danced, and I want to be able to be there for my kids someday. I want to be very successful, but I also want to go to every tee ball game. Optometry can give me that.” Optometric Commitment Leads to Accolades Once she arrived at NSU’s College of Optometry, Woodie immediately showcased the same brand of enthusiasm and commitment that had earned her praise and kudos during her days as a UCF student. Over the next several years, she would assume various student leadership positions within the college, including serving as both class of 2010 president and SGA president, and become a member of the NSU Optometry Honors Program and the Gold Key National Honors Society. While Woodie committed an immeasurable amount of time to the class of 2010 serving as class president, it was her role as SGA president that she is most proud of. “We—the SGA officers—met with the presidents of student organizations during the summer and told everyone we weren’t going to just meet the status quo and that our goal was to make the college a better place for students,” she stated. “We had plans to rewrite the outdated SGA constitution, turn the SGA office into a functional workspace for organizations, and increase club membership and student services.” Woodie explained that one of her biggest goals was to get students involved in the college and on campus. “Students won’t graduate and say, ‘Boy, I sure do remember how great gross anatomy class was,’” she admitted. “They’ll remember going to conventions with AOSA, volunteering with SVOSH, and learning more about their chosen specialty through COVD or the new disease club. I want everyone to have that extra experience.” In order to increase student involvement, Woodie and SGA Vice President Meagan Steg coordinated the college’s first organization informational brochure and Organization Fair. Because the event proved to be a huge success in terms of increasing membership in every club, the Organization Fair will now be an annual event for welcoming first-year students and providing them with information on how to become more involved. As SGA president, she also represented the college on a campus-wide level through the PAN-SGA, which is composed of the SGA presidents from the universities 16 colleges and centers. In addition, she was one offive PAN-SGA members asked to attend the NSU Board of Trustees annual retreat and speak on the students’ behalves. In April 2009, her dedication to the college was recognized with NSU’s highest student honor when she received the Student Life Achievement (STUEY) Award as NSU Student of the Year, which marked the first time a College of Optometry student had been accorded this prestigious honor. So what drives Woodie to accept additional responsibility and serve as a well-liked and respected role model to her classmates? According to this optometric dynamo, it’s a combination of unifying factors. “I’ve always taken pride in being given the chance to represent my peers,” she said. “But even though a lot of extra work was required, I knew I would be dedicated enough to be that person my classmates could go to for help. “I don’t mind taking on a little extra work; I’ve always been that way. I need to feel motivated, so the more I have going on, the more it keeps me going. I wanted my classmates to feel like they weren’t ever shortchanged on anything and that if there was something that could benefit us, I would be there to assist. My friends that served as SGA and class officers all worked very hard to make this happen. When we graduate next year, we will do so knowing we changed the school in ways that will make it better for those students who come after us. Our goal as a class is not just to leave, but to leave something positive behind as a legacy.” Shhh...It’s really Amanda! “Our goal as a class is not just to leave, but to leave something positive behind as a legacy.”