Natalie Nguyen

I chose biology because it would give me the most opportunities to learn about anything regarding eyes. My major requires that I take physics and physiology which are both classes that have a minor segment regarding eyes. It was very interesting because physics taught me about methods on how optometrists figure out how to prescribe the patient's lens using light and refraction while physiology taught me about what makes up the eyeball and their functions regarding it. I do not regret taking this major at all as it gave me an idea of what I will be learning while giving me challenging coursework to help me prepare for optometry school.

I decided to pursue pre-optometry because I have always known I wanted to be in the pre-health field since I took medical classes in high school. I narrowed down what I wanted to do after asking myself out of the five senses, what is the most important sense to me? My answer was sight! I believe that sight is the most important sense to me due to how it lets you be aware of your surroundings and avoid anything that looks dangerous or harmful towards you. A lot of the information we gather is due to our sight as well. We are able to read the situation based on it as well as figure out our next course of action. For example, first meetings heavily rely on what we see. We are able to gauge the other person's facial appearance as well as their reaction towards a situation to learn more about the person themselves. If the person had a nervous facial reaction around dogs and kept their distance, we can infer what we see and note that they disliked dogs or had a bad experience. Based on that, we would avoid dogs in favor of their comfort. Sight is not only used to detect danger, it can also be used for other things like watching television or fireworks in the sky. It gives us the experience to enjoy looking at beautiful or mesmerizing scenery. These reasons are why I believe sight is so important and strengthens my reasons to become an optometrist.

HPAO has helped me in various ways. It ensured that I stayed on track with my classes for the optometry school I wanted to attend, gave me advice on extracurricular activities I should participate in, and aided in connecting me to other pre-optometry schools during the HPAO career fair. I was able to learn a lot about the difference in criteria between optometry schools and what they are looking for in a future student. Overall HPAO has been a very helpful experience in guiding me towards what I want to do in the future.

My most memorable experience is my first HPAO meeting with Dr. Taylor during my Freshman year. At that time I was switching out from pre-pharmacy into pre-optometry. I thought the switch would be hard and tedious due to how I did not know where to start and what to do. Overall I was very worried about the path towards optometry and whether I knew what I was doing was correct. Dr. Taylor was able to help me out immensely and let me know everything I needed to know about pre-optometry. He introduced me to the pre-optometry club and let me know what classes I needed to focus on to gain entry into optometry school. I am very thankful for him and feel that I would be lost during my Freshman year if I did not book an appointment with him.

My career goals is to attend the University of Houston for pre-optometry and become an optometrist!

My favorite meal is chicken and waffles.

I am the happiest playing board games with friends and families.

My favorite study spot is Lamar in the big classrooms.