Laura cole

A little bit about me.  I grew up in southwest Oklahoma in a very small town where I attended first grade through senior graduation in the same building.  A graduating class of only eleven in 1976, a bi-centennial year.  After graduation, I attend the a Junior college, 30 minutes away and thought I was starting my journey as a swimming instructor / coach.  Upon receiving my Associate Degree in two years, I transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University to finish up my teaching certificate and degree.  NWOSU was my choice due to it was the only university at that time with a synchronized swimming instructor.  Following graduation, I pondered on my next challenge, as working towards my Masters degree. But in the meantime, my bills need to be paid, I took a position as an optomertic assistant.  A mindset changer in my career path began.  With the mentoring of my employer I applied for a position as an ophthalmic assistant at Dean McGee Eye Institute and made the move to Oklahoma City.  The McGee Eye Institute trained me as an ophthalmic assistant all the way up to a Certified Ophthalmic Technician (COT). While at McGee Eye Institute, I was fortunate to work with some of the most renowned ophthalmologist in their respected subspecialitis of cornea, retina, glaucoma and Neuro-ophthalmology.  At the encouragement of family and friends I took an ophthalmic technician position with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. The next step in my career in ophthalmology, this position awarded me with different challenges as I moved into a supervisory role, working with more clinical studies and teaching new residents and technicians.  As our lives change so does my career, where after sixteen years of university setting, I moved to private practice.  Again, I am faced with new goals and learning of myself and ophthalmology.  In the private practice, I began scrubbing in surgical cases, sure I had assisted in minor operating room cases and watching a few cases but not scrubbed. This brought on a whole new meaning of responsibilities and knowledge. But I took the challenge head on and tackled it until surgery become one of my favorite subspecialites. I still had another challenge in store for me, I took a Faculty position at San Jacinto College Eye Care Technology Department.  What an eye opener,  I know very little about being an academic. Sure, I am a Rockstar COT, but know I have to learn all the ins and outs of being a "professor" in a college?  Again, What was I thinking?  Now it's been seven years and I am enrolled in my first master of education digital learning and lead course. Who would have thought?

 

In all of this that I have shared with you, I hope you take away that you should never give up. The first step is scary, but when you get to step two, you will look back and think that wasn't so bad after all.

 

"Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then do something else. The trick is the doing something else." - Leonardo da Vinic