This year wraps up the New Zealand Optometry Student Society’s (NZOSS) ninth year as a student-run society. It has been a challenging, exciting and rewarding year to say the least, but we’re glad to have made it to the finish line.
The first half of the year was highly eventful, kicking off with a weekend away at our annual NZOSS camp in Port Waikato, filled with beach runs, games and competitions. Next, we held an online quiz during an earlier level 3 lockdown. Prizes included designer sunglasses and free event tickets. Back in Auckland and in person, we held our Orientation BBQ at Outhwaite Park to welcome back all optometry students for the new year. Soon after, we headed off for our annual pub crawl – always hugely popular and a big success! To bridge the gap between students and the industry we were also able to hold our first educational seminar for the year, with all five of our sponsors presenting. As students, we love getting to know how the industry works, especially as it’s not always covered in lectures.
Right before the current lockdown commenced, we managed to squeeze in our second pub crawl and our first ever games night, where we invited everyone from the school to a chill night playing board games including Monopoly, Catan and Uno, all fuelled by pizza. During lockdown, the NZOSS committee also did its best to help everyone stay connected and on top of their optometry knowledge. We held our second educational webinar via Zoom, again presented by our sponsors which was another great way for students to interact with industry leaders.
Our aim this year was to prioritise giving back to our members while providing a safe environment for students to work and build relationships. We are all proud to be part of NZOSS, so the executive team designed our own branded merchandise, with an updated logo on our own branded socks, tote bags, bottles and masks – all of which have been a huge hit!
This year has not been easy on any of us, as many of our plans and events fell victim to Covid. Therefore, to set up for future generations, we decided to work on our sponsorship proposal, allowing us to keep our excellent previous sponsors – Specsavers, OPSM, Eye Institute, Bausch and Lomb – and add Johnson & Johnson Vision Care for the first time. We are delighted with this achievement and we thank our sponsors for their ongoing support.
