Bob Reynolds, OAA President, reports that there is a surge in attempts to deregulate or consolidate licensed professions by doing away with or combining state licensing boards. Attempts at deregulation have been made recently in Ohio, Arizona, Virginia and Florida, with more states certain to follow. You may recall that the OAA was instrumental in assisting opticians in Virginia, where a bill to deregulate opticians died in committee.

One of my favorite sayings goes, “you live and you learn.” It doesn’t sound like anything profound or straight out of a literature book, but it gets me through mistakes I’ve made. If I could go back in time, I would have pursued a job in the field before I started school. I didn’t understand the importance of obtaining real life experience in an optical, versus putting in hours at my school’s optical clinic until applying for my apprenticeship. My classmates and I were able to guide each other frequently for group projects. Therefore, I always had support and comfort with what I was doing. It’s possible if I had started working in an optical setting sooner, I would have been much more relaxed for anything involving practical and physical tasks. I have noticed a drastic improvement in my skills and knowledge since becoming an apprentice. So, I try to convince students to get a job sooner than later because applying your knowledge in this field is immensely important on the road to becoming a successful optician.