SCCO Student Ambassador Kendal McCarthy Receives AOSA Trustee of the Year
Marshall B. Ketchum University is delighted to announce that Kendal McCarthy, a Southern California College of Optometry Student Ambassador in her 3rd year of the program, recently received the American Optometric Student Association’s Trustee of the Year award! In addition to this, Kendal’s excellent work with the AOSA will continue into the next year, as she was also elected to serve as the Vice President of the AOSA’s Executive Council Board. Balancing her studies at SCCO with tireless advocacy for the profession on a national level, Kendal is a wonderful example of the high caliber of student MBKU is famous for.
Like so many optometrists before her, Kendal’s passion for the profession found its earliest form in that first pair of glasses which transformed the world in front of her. Suddenly she could see the leaves on the trees, her performance in school skyrocketed, and, though she was just 8 years old, her curiosity bloomed as well. She was fascinated by how those thin glass lenses seemed so powerful. Fortuitously for Kendal, she had an ophthalmologist for a grandfather, one who indulged her curiosity when he babysat her in his office, allowing her free rein to twist knobs, press buttons, and lovingly explore all his expensive diagnostic equipment.
Kendal remained fascinated by the visual system, and while doing her undergraduate degree at UCLA, she gravitated towards the profession of optometry. “During my shadowing experiences in undergrad, I observed how optometrists got to spend way more time with their patients,” she says. “They were able to develop relationships, and I felt very strongly that I wanted to be able to have more of that type of interaction with the patient.”
When choosing a place to get her optometry degree, Kendal was drawn to Southern California College of Optometry for the camaraderie and community which welcomed her immediately when she visited for interviews, not to mention its sterling reputation for high board pass rates. She now plays an important role in fostering that community as a MBKU Student Ambassador.
Building up community is also a huge part of Kendal’s mission as a student trustee for the American Optometric Student Association. In addition to operating as a delegate of sorts for the concerns of SCCO’s student body, Kendal also sees her trustee work as an opportunity to create spaces for meaningful connection among optometry students from every school in the country. As the team lead for the AOSA Student Experience Committee, she embraced this work whole-heartedly, planning large-scale events and laying the groundwork for the networking and professional affinity her fellow students all over the country will no doubt share in the future as optometrists.
Kendal also presented at multiple conferences, including AOA on Capitol Hill, and took seriously the unique perspective students in particular have on some of the profession’s most important areas of advocacy. In the ongoing campaign for scope expansion, for example, students can weigh in from the frontlines, as they are literally learning the innovative practices at the vanguard of the optometric profession.
As for the future beyond her last year of optometry school, during which she will serve as the Vice President of the AOSA Executive Council Board, Kendal hopes to do a residency in ocular disease or contact lenses. The reason for this is simple, and connects all the way back to the 8-year-old girl she was, intrigued by the ability of the tiny lens to transform a person’s vision. “My favorite time in clinic has been in the contact lens department,” she says. “Hearing from patients just how much these lenses have impacted them. It’s so cool to hear how life-changing these devices are, and I would love to make a difference like that for people.”