For some, starting a career may seem easily attainable and simple. One may breeze through high school and college and then begin a satisfactory career. However, others decide to dedicate themselves to a field of study in order to further benefit others. Such was the choice of alumna April Fujihara, ’06, who aspires to become an optometrist in hopes of improving the well-being of others.

After graduating from Fresno Pacific University (FPU) in 2010, Fujihara will attend the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) in the fall, a select school that only accepts 100 students per class to their Fullerton campus. There she will obtain her doctorate in optometry and hopefully start her own group practice in the central Valley.

Though optometry is a narrow field, Fujihara felt it was the best choice for her personal interests and career goals.

“Eyes fascinate me; it is simply amazing how optometrists can improve one’s quality of life so drastically with just a pair of glasses or contacts,” Fujihara said. “Studying the way that the eyes work is very intellectually stimulating to me, which I consider essential in my personal career choice. I also love the one-on-one interaction that optometrists have with their patients in the office. My hope is that I will be able to serve others by utilizing my God-given abilities to administer excellent eye care to other people. ”

Fujihara’s past experiences and influences have also helped to shape her dreams for optometry. Wearing glasses since she was in first grade, she developed a close relationship with her optometrist and recognized his caring actions towards his patients. Also, her parents, both doctors, encouraged her to enter the healthcare field due to its importance and stability.

“As an optometrist, I will be able to support my future family with my income if necessary or work part time if it is necessary,” Fujihara said. “There are so many ways and places that I can practice as an optometrist and I am really excited that I have been given the opportunity to pursue such a field.”

In pursuing her desired career path, Fujihara aspired to attend SCCO for its long-standing experience. Since it was founded in 1904, Fujihara felt sure of an excellent education and numerous job opportunities, as well as admiring the valued qualities it portrays of students.

“[SCCO] has had over a century to develop their program into the well-oiled machine that it is today,” Fujihara said. “They have arguably the most diverse and numerous clinical opportunities available and are focused on training their students to be servant-leaders.The service-hearted attitude and mindset of the students and faculty really caught my attention when I first visited the school. SCCO highly values altruism, service, and caring for a person’s holistic well-being.”

However, Fujihara recognized the difficulty of getting accepted into the college. She had to make sure she participated in numerous extra-curricluar activities, volunteer work and outreach programs, as well as taking multiple science classes to fulfill the prerequisites. She then had to take admission tests, send letters of recommendations, thoroughly fill out applications, pay money and write essays in hopes of being called for an interview.

“I wasn’t sure if I would get in because statistics say that 1 in 6 applicants are accepted to SCCO and about 1 in 3 who are asked for an interview are accepted, so I was very nervous going into the interview because I knew that my interview would determine whether I got into SCCO or not,” Fujihara said. “I was so excited when I got in and I’m still excited. The fact that I was accepted to SCCO proves that all the hard work was not in vain.”

Due to her acceptance into SCCO, Fujihara feels she has a better grasp on the hard work necessary to succeed.

“It took a lot of studying, preparing, researching schools, gathering wise advice, and most importantly prayer to succeed,” Fujihara said. “If the Lord wasn’t behind this, there is no possible way that I would have succeeded. It was the Lord who gave me my talents and the strength to work hard. Optometry is the means in which I plan to fulfill my over-arching goal of glorifying the Lord. There’s no way I can personally take the credit for this success.”

However, Fujihara recognizes that her work-ethic was a direct result of her high school experience. Her ability to balance work and activities in high school has helped her in her college years, and she therefore stresses the importance of class involvement.

“It’s important to realize that what you do in high school will influence who you become in the future,” Fujihara said. “For example, studying hard in high school and being involved in multiple extracurriculars like concert choir, ensemble, tennis, track, honors and A.P. courses, student leadership and CSF (California Scholarship Federation) taught me principles of time management, study techniques and allowed me to develop into a more well-rounded person.”

Although Fujihara took on many difficult courses and activities and pursues a career outside the norm, she encourages current students to value their resources and recognize that they have the abilities to succeed as well.

“My advice to high school students who want to pursue graduate level work would be to take advantage of the multiple opportunities you have at Fresno Christian,” Fujihara said. “High school is a unique time in your lives that you will never get back. Get to know your teachers; they have a wealth of knowledge that will be useful later. I was once told that our generation will be extremely stupid if we cannot learn from the mistakes and successes of the generations before us. Fresno Christian provided me with the quality education I needed to succeed in college.”

For more alumni stories, read the March 29 article, Lacrosse expands athletic horizons or the May 18, 2008 article, Alumna awarded Wall of Honor recognition.