Randa Djabri, biology major, is set to graduate from NSU this May, and has a strong vision for her future: optometry school. Randa was born in Algeria, a country on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, and is bilingual in English and Arabic. In her free time, she can often be found at the Broward Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, entertaining and reading to the elderly. She hopes her story showcases her passion for optometry and demonstrates the value of interning — even if the experience ends badly.
I began last summer with big plans. I wanted to shadow an optometrist, get a part-time job, volunteer for a big cause, work out every day and take some time off for vacation. But day after day, I procrastinated and kept postponing my plans, except for the vacation part.
My mom didn’t like what she was seeing. I was lying around night and day; if I wasn’t watching TV, I was sleeping. So my mother and I had a talk. She only has a high school education, which is why she always emphasizes how important it is to take advantage of every opportunity and not settle for mediocrity.
All I needed was a bit of encouragement and someone to remind me how important my plans are. I started with the most important item on my list — the one that would affect my future.
I began to search for local optometrists and called them seeking the golden opportunity. Most of the offices I called already had interns and couldn’t afford any more. Some would refer me to other offices because they don’t accept “shadowers.” Others politely promised to call back but never did.
Finally, I called Envision Eye Care and both doctors welcomed me to meet with them and talk about what was expected of me. The meeting went very smoothly and they said I could start the following Monday. I got really excited. It felt like Monday would be the day I graduated from optometry school to start my own practice.
When Monday finally arrived, I was planted in front of the office half an hour before the employees even arrived. I was soon greeted and welcomed by all of the employees. When patients started arriving, I followed the optometric assistant around as she took pictures of the patients’ retinas and performed routine eye exams.
I was amazed. I had eye doctor visits before, but it was a whole different world seeing it from this perspective. I had friendly conversations with the patients as they waited for the doctor to enter the room and made sure they didn’t mind my being there. They were very encouraging of my wanting to learn. I met all sorts of people, from firefighters to a famous mystery writer.
Days breezed by and I loved what I was doing. I fell in love even more when the technician taught me how to use some of the machines and trusted me to take pictures of the back of the patients’ retinas, measure their prescriptions and enter the numbers into the computer.
I was fascinated by the annual eye exam visits and learning so much already, before, one day, I got to see a patient who got a glass contact lens and a few emergency visits for pink eye and conjunctivitis. I also witnessed lessons for first-time contact lens users, dilating eyes and looking through patients’ lenses with a microscope.
Not only did I learn a tremendous amount and gain incredible experience, I also built confidence as the patients encouraged me to pursue my dream and assured me that I would have a bright future ahead of me. The month flew by so quickly and the whole experience was like a dream. That is, until one day, the doctor called me up to her private office and told me I had to find another office to shadow.
My heart was crushed and my eyes watered as she spoke to me. It was as if a bucket of ice-cold water was dumped on my already freezing body. She said that an optometry student intern was starting with them tomorrow, and they must prioritize her because she was already beginning to apply what she learned and the office was too crowded to have both of us in the room with the patients.
I was speechless. I remember mumbling, “OK, I understand.” But I didn’t understand. I wanted to cry like a baby and convince her that it would be OK for both of us to be there, but I couldn’t. I simply thanked her for the opportunity and walked out the office. As soon as the door closed behind me, my tears burst out my flooding eyes. I was depressed for a few days and then I began accepting the fact and dealing with it. I picked up the phone and called the office to thank the doctors one last time for the opportunity. To my surprise, one of them offered to recommend me to optometry school; suddenly, things didn’t feel so bad after all.
I counted all the positive things I got out of the experience. I acquired copious amounts of knowledge, gained priceless experiences and I scored a beautiful recommendation letter to optometry school. In turn, I lost nothing. So there was no reason to be upset after all.
By the end of the summer, I couldn’t see my future self as anything but an optometrist. I became more determined to reach my goal and, most importantly, I was confident more than ever about my capabilities to successful in the future.
