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I can see all the students here on Optician Space are blogging about there exams. As a student myself, I'm no different. Currently I am one week in to my exams and have 2 weeks until I can breath a momentary sigh of relief before awaiting to see how I have done. So far, my first two exams went exceptionally well and today's one I was a little less confident on. I know I've done my best and I'm pretty certain I've managed to pass. The one we have all been dreading the most is on Thursday. A 2 hour dispensing exam. I'm not sure why we are all nervous, as we've all worked hard throughout the year, but I'm guessing it's the maths under exam conditions that scares us the most. I'm sure all the student optometrists in my year will do fine. Good luck to all those taking exams and I hope you all get the results you are expecting!

I've not long returned to university, ready to sit my first set of end-of year exams. I have a little over a week until my first one, which is on basic clinical techniques. Despite revising continuously since my little break in Shropshire, it's beginning to feel like there is not enough time to cover everything. However, there is a feeling of unity between all of the first years - we all feel the same and, unlike the days in school where every student was in it for themselves, we all are helping each other. It is of course in my nature to help when I feel I can, but it is actually very impressive that all 80-90 of us are taking the time to cover individual topics in detail and share what they have done with everyone in the year. We have even utilised Facebook to organise revision sessions, ask questions (even set polls as to test each others knowledge) as well as provide support to those that have spent the last three days in a caffeine-filled state trying to memorise model answers to potential questions (that may or may not have been me...). It really something that has motivated us to keep going and if it works well for the first year, I'm sure we will continue supporting one another throughout the rest of our time at university and hopefully in the careers ahead of us.

It has come to that time. The coursework is completed (albeit yet to be submitted) and the lectures and practical examinations are over. It means two things, the Easter Holidays are upon us and that the written examinations are around the corner. However, I do feel like the pressure has been released slightly, as we all can now sort our own schedules out. But it is also a time to relax a little and have some fun. In fact the next few weeks are packed for me. This coming Saturday I will be attending a go-karting day for one of my good friend's stag party, before attending the annual Eyeball in the evening. This year it is being held at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay and has a nautical theme. I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures taken and I will of course share them with you. Following that, I am off to London to aid with the Student AOP, before heading back to my flat for a quick snack as I will be heading to visit my good friends in Shropshire for a week. My friends live in this very old farmhouse, situated in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully the weather will be as nice as it has been recently and I'll get to revise with them in the garden or the many fields that surround them. So with all of these fun events to occupy my time, any time revising will be considered a break!

So there goes another week. Before I started my application to study optometry, many then third year students warned me that the years fly by. If you recall a post made a few weeks back, both here and on my blog at www.optomstudent.co.uk , you will have seen that I have definitely noticed that. The worrying thing is, writing that post seemed like yesterday, not two weeks ago. So why am I finding this flying time such a concern? Well, every Monday dispensing lecture we have, our lecturer kindly reminds us that it is x number of weeks until our practical exams. I think from today we are only 5 weeks away. Although I know how to do the techniques likely to be examined, there is (like with any examination) that level of fear coursing through my body. Then there is the fact that as of two weeks, there will be no more lectures for a particular module, with other lecture modules slowly rounding up their content not long after. It is hard to believe that I have nearly finished 1/3 of the course content already. But this feeling of time rushing by isn’t just down to the fear of the exams. It’s also because I am enjoying myself. There hasn’t really been a day where I haven’t wanted to get out of bed to go into the classes. I work hard on the coursework and am marvelled at how much research has been carried out on the eye as well as the shape of things to come. The craving for knowledge and the ambition to reach my end target are enough to motivate me to attend (even if I am tired, having spent most of the night applying the finishing touches to an assignment!). So let the time fl;, a healthy mix of satisfaction that I am on the right path to achieving the career I’ve wanted for so long and that of the pre-exam nerves are just accelerants to fuel speeding up the time between being a first year student to becoming a second year student. I just have to keep enjoying the ride!