NZOSS 2020 president Cindy Cheakhun

2020, what a year it’s been! No one, not even the future optometrists of the New Zealand Optometry Student Society (NZOSS) could have seen this coming.

The year started well with high hopes and big expectations for what should have been 20/20: the year of the optometrist, with many social and academic events planned to rival all preceding years. Despite the restrictions we were still able to hold some social events, including the annual NZOSS Camp, which occurred before lectures started at a campsite out of Hamilton. The camp is a great way to introduce the new part IIs to their older cohorts through a good, old-fashioned road trip, beer pong tournament and capture the flag competition. Next on the agenda was the Orientation BBQ at Outhwaite Park at the end of the first week of semester one, to welcome back all optometry students for the new year.

Still early on in the year, before Covid-19 became a household name, NZOSS members also participated in Round the Bays, with some great results all round! While the biannual pub crawl, themed as a ‘Haw-eye-an’ summer, with everyone decked out in floral Hawaiian shirts, was definitely a highlight of the first semester!

Then the global pandemic threw everyone into lockdown, out of university and the only way of seeing someone outside your bubble was through a computer screen. Determined to make the most of a dire situation, we held online events, turning our annual pub quiz virtual, with part IIs taking a shock win! The education webinar with all our sponsors was provided via Zoom, giving all of us a fantastic introduction to the larger optometry community network.

Semester two looked more promising, with a combined joint venture planned with the Auckland Pharmacy Students’ Association. Three days before the event, the second lockdown hit and we were back in our bubbles and in front of our screens. Since the end of lockdown No. 2 we’ve managed to have our second, Halloween-themed pub crawl and our annual AGM to determine the new NZOSS executive committee.

Although there has been some speculation and uncertainty, excitingly, the annual Eyeball is still on track as long as Covid stays at bay! With a Golden Globe theme, it is the biggest night on the NZOSS calendar, and this year will be a double celebration of the end of exams and the end of a difficult year for everyone!

Despite this, the future is bright, and I’d like to offer a big congratulations to the new NZOSS president, Rishi Khattar, and his new executive for 2021. We wish them all the best of luck and hope their year will be much more smooth sailing than 2020, though I’m sure that they’ll be able to handle anything 2021 throws at them!

Cindy Cheakhun is the outgoing NZOSS 2020 president.