Speaker: Emily Benson, AOSA Past President
Emily Benson: Ok, so my favorite memory of AOA on Capitol Hill was during my 2nd year of optometry school. It was actually the day before our spring finals. And I was in this meeting with a legislative aide who is probably about my age, one of my optometry school friends and three doctors. So these doctors were going on talking about all the bills on our agenda, the DOC Access Act, the Contact Lens Rule, things like that. And then suddenly they turned and looked at my friend and asked him to explain the last bill on our agenda. He was definitely nervous, but the morning briefings prepared him well and he perfectly explained our position on the bill and how it matters to our patients and optometry as a whole. Afterwards, the doctors and I were so proud of him. He did such a great job and he left D.C. absolutely raving about how it was the best of optometry event, best optometry conference he had ever been to. So all that to say that no matter what your experience is with advocacy at AOA on Capitol Hill, you'll be given the tools to succeed as a successful advocate for our profession! Also, don't worry, our flight made it back to Columbus in time. We all did well in our finals. So even if it falls kind of near your finals week, don't worry, you guys got this. You could still make some time to advocate for our profession.
