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You study for boards, you clean up, you dress up, and you come to party.
That’s the way Mohit Batra ‘21OD described how he got ready for “EyeBall 2020,” the annual celebration for students of the University’s Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO), a final exhale before members of the Class of 2021 transition from the classroom and scatter across the country for the next step in their academic career, their clinical externships, at the end of March.
“Life gets busy and hectic after this, and the next time we see each other is at graduation,” said Batra, OD Class Council president and one of the event organizers. “So this is a time where we try to get as many people as we can from our class together as we can and just celebrate each other and the memories that we’ve made.”
Batra, along with his fellow class council members – vice president, Veronica Gonzalez, treasurer, Karen Kaur, and secretary, Marissa Ferris, all ‘21OD – started planning the event in October 2019. Held Jan. 30 at Rivers Casino in Philadelphia, the event attracted approximately 200 students and their guests. The theme this year was “A Night on the Red Carpet,” and mini “Oscar”-like awards were handed out in different superlatives as voted on by class members. The event was sponsored by Allergan and Luxottica.
Among the award winners were:
Section Superlative Awards:
Most Involved: Madison Dunning, Veronica Gonzalez, Puja Patel, and Samantha Spinnato.
Best Dressed: Noor Ameiche, Leah Tatsak, Tylor Pravongviengkham, and Yubisela Toledo.
Most Likely to Own their Private Practice: David Bacho, Inna Ilyasova, Brittany Lukish, and Alex Trezza.
Class Superlative Awards:
Most likely to help you in clinic/class: Sami Khaldieh.
Most likely to work at their parents’ OD practice: Anderson Werner.
Most likely to brighten your day: Madison Dunning.
Most artistic: Rachel Jhala.
Cutest couple: Caroline Krupa and Ryan Sullivan.
“The entire evening on its own was a memorable moment. You don’t really get to have many parties where it’s just your class,” said Batra, a New York native who’s headed to Atlanta, Ga., for the first of his third-year rotation. “I think in the way that the school allows us to do something like this is also a great thing. I know some schools don’t give you the opportunity to do that. I’m glad that the school can trust us – the council – to be responsible and host an event outside of school. Student Affairs, Alumni, Academic Affairs, everyone was just awesome. I had a blast and I hope all the students and their guests had a great time.”
