Snowvision’s 2019 SUNY scholars

This year’s Snowvision SUNY (State University of New York) scholarships were awarded to recent graduate Shannon Boy and optometrists Peter Walker and Zaria Bradley. NZ Optics asked the recipients what winning the scholarship means to them and what they are looking forward to focusing on at SUNY.

Shannon Boy

“It is such a privilege to receive this scholarship. I see this as a valuable opportunity to glean from leaders in the latest optometric research and professional training, to better my own knowledge and understanding as well as sharing this in a broader context in New Zealand to help enhance our collective care and expertise.”

Boy said she is hoping to spend some time in specialty clinics that treat ocular disease and head trauma rehabilitation. She is looking forward to the “exciting challenges of living and working in a new city with a dynamic culture and diverse people groups and gaining knowledge through all the different experiences SUNY offers!”

Shannon Boy is an optometrist with Nicholls & Associates in Browns Bay, Auckland.

Peter Walker

Walker said he'd applied after talking to other scholarship winners and is excited about both the optometry and cultural experience he'll gain from working at SUNY.

“I have never been to the States before and I’m looking forward to discovering what the similarities and differences are.”

He added he is keen to learn about all the aspects of optometry that SUNY offers, but is hoping for a particular focus on paediatrics.

Peter Walker is an optometrist with Visique Rose Optometrists, Hamilton.

Zaria Bradley - NZAO scholar

“It is an absolute privilege to receive the Snowvision SUNY Scholarship, and I feel honoured to be sponsored by the New Zealand Association of Optometrists,” said Bradley. “New Zealand has a relatively small, but very supportive, optometry community. Yet we are practicing at the top level of optometry and constantly working to push the profession forward.” Never having visited New York before, Bradley said she is grateful to be given this amazing experience and hopes to bring back a wealth of speciality knowledge to help provide better care to her patients and share her learnings with optometry students. “Opportunities like this scholarship are priceless, as they allow individuals to gain international knowledge and perspectives to bring back and share with our community.”

Bradley is keen to develop her specialty areas of paediatrics and dry eye further and wishes to get involved in SUNY’s head trauma rehabilitation clinic. “This is something we really don't have in New Zealand, despite the fact we see individuals from young to old suffering from various forms of head trauma and associated visual effects.”

Zaria Bradley is clinic supervisor at the School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of Auckland.

The Snowvision SUNY scholarships

Since 1997, the trustees of the Snowvision Charitable Trust have announced annual scholarships for a recent graduate and an optometrist to attend SUNY, New York, for a period of four weeks’ clinical study in optometry. The scholarship is for a maximum of NZ$7,000 and covers travel from Auckland to New York as well as tuition fees at SUNY. This year, the NZAO funded an additional optometrist scholarship, leaving the selection process entirely to the trustees. All three scholarships are aimed at improving the clinical skills of New Zealand optometrists.

The biannual Snowvision conference is scheduled for 5-8 August 2020 in Queenstown.