Name: Grace Ji 2025 Student Visionary Spotlight

Class Year: 2025

List the award(s) / scholarship(s) you have received
Dr. Louis Herrmann Memorial Award for Outstanding Compassion in Patient Care

What does receiving this award or scholarship mean to you?
Receiving the Dr. Louis Herrmann Memorial Award for Outstanding Compassion in Patient Care is deeply meaningful to me because being an optometrist is nothing without heart. Love for our patients and their vision is what drives me. Whether they come in for an annual check-up or a new concern, what we say or do can change the course of their lives.

What drew you to the field of optometry?
What drew me to optometry was a blend of the ability to provide inter-dependent leadership, quality care, and meaningful impact that aligns with my personal purposes to impact lives. From the direct impact that comes with providing a good pair of glasses or contact lenses prescription to reassuring a patient about their worries or making an important referral there is so much that can be done in the world of optometry. Optometry is about the people at the end of the day, the eyes are part of them, but it’s really about the people. I’m grateful to be part of the care and offer compassion with my patients.

What are your plans following graduation?
Following graduation, I plan to work at a private practice that allows me to spend quality time with my patients. I want to address even simple concerns and questions on their mind. It’s difficult in a bustling city like New York City, but I hope to provide a safe space where my patients don’t leave feeling like just another chart or patient log. I hope to be part of a collaborative space of healthcare workers.

What was your most transformative experience during optometry school?
I would say optometry school was full of small transformative moments. I can’t bring to mind a single one, but so many of them were filled with helping patients see or receive a good pair of glasses. I remember seeing a child who loved wearing their glasses, doing vision screenings, diagnosing someone with glaucoma, and fitting a scleral lens for the first time in a patient with keratoconus. All these moments together shape my experience of optometry.

What advice would you give incoming or prospective optometry students?
I would say to incoming students that optometry school takes a village to get through. We need each others’s support and friendship to get through the highs and lows. Four years pass quicker than you’d think!