MBKU's Community of Cheerleaders

By Tiana Ha
Southern California College of Optometry Class of 2028
Student Ambassador
tianaha.scco28@ketchum.edu

I’m sure you all have caught onto this by now, but if you ask any of our students or faculty members what they love most about MBKU, you will without a doubt be met with an answer about our supportive community. When I was still a prospective student, I caught onto this pattern, too. And I never got tired of it! Listening to everyone so passionately share their stories about the support they’ve received while they were also prospective students and the support they continue to receive as current students made my cheeks hurt from smiling. And if it’s the same for you as it was for me, you’ll find that these genuine stories of community fill you with confidence and reassurance that you’ll be met with a similar warm embrace if you choose MBKU as your home, too.

With that in mind, I began my first year of optometry school with high expectations for the kind of community I’d build with my classmates as we navigate this 4-year journey together. Even as a shy introvert, I had so much fun making new friends, bonding with my roommates, reconnecting with people I met at interview day and in-person events, getting to know the silly side of our professors, and cheering on my labmates as we walked into our proficiencies after long hours of practicing together. All these new connections exceeded my expectations and more. But what caught me by surprise was the quick realization that my community was so much larger than just my cohort.

If you’re reading this now, I’m sure you’ve also been through many pages of the Ketchum website or Optometry Admissions Blog, listened in on our various online webinars, and maybe even have had the chance to visit us on campus at an in-person event. Through this, you’ve probably encountered a lot of familiar faces that have provided you with some form of advice, comfort, or reassurance as you navigate your pre-optometry journey. For me, after listening to their stories, they became people I really admired and hoped to someday call my fellow peers and future colleagues. However, I never could have imagined how closely we’d be interacting with one another once I became a 1st year myself. These Student Ambassadors that I had only really known through a screen and who had no idea who I was soon became the friendly upperclassmen that would welcome us onto campus as our Peer Advisors, patiently guide us through our classes as TAs, create amazing social and professional opportunities for us as our club leaders, and become our biggest cheerleaders. Even with so much on their own plates, the upperclassmen kept showing up for us. When we fell into a panic as we realized the first clinical skill we had to learn would not come to us as easily as we had hoped, they were the first to reassure us that they felt the same way too, but that our hard work and practice would pay off. When we expressed our apprehension about our first exams, they eagerly offered to share their study tips. When we (or I…lol) once again fell into a panic because the skills we were learning in the Spring after finally adjusting to the rhythm of grad school were still not coming to us as easily as we had hoped, they were again right by our sides in class and After Hours practices coaching us and cheering us on as they noticed improvements from session to session. In these moments, their kindness and genuine wish for all of us to do well despite us starting off as strangers made me realize this is what it’s like to truly understand the kind of support system we have here at MBKU. One that is not only made up of our classmates and close circle of friends but that instead also includes everyone else on campus who is rooting for each other’s success and happiness all the same.

Even as someone who always felt drawn to MBKU because of the warmth and endless support I already felt through each interaction and shared story, I was still surprised by how much more there was to this community once I became an active part of it. Knowing I have not only my cohort and the faculty members, but also all the SCCO upperclassmen and my fellow peers in SPAS and COP rooting for me, I feel confident that we will all get through these tough but rewarding years of schooling together to become the caring clinicians we aspire to be. So, if you’re reading this and hoping to join our community someday, I hope you know that we’re all here waiting to cheer you on, too!