The results of the first annual Optik-Seneca College Optician writing contest have been announced.
Opticianry students at Seneca College were invited to submit an 800-word article from a list of suggested topics, including personal essays on Why Opticianry, The Impact of AI on Opticianry and, The Use of Social Media in Patient Education.
Prizes were awarded to the winning entries based on creativity, clarity of communication and fluency.
The Opticianry writing contest provides an opportunity for tomorrow's peer influencers and future educators to showcase and develop their communication skills.
Many eye care professionals develop their writing expertise to a very high level and find additional freelance employment as specialized contributors or take on additional tasks to manage a practice's communications efforts.
The 2023 Optik Seneca Opticianry Writing Contest Winners are:
| 1st Place | Laxmi Paudyal | $200 |
| 2nd Place | Mackenzie Doan | $100 |
| 3rd Place | Rana Jounes | $50 |
Congratulations to Laxmi Paudyal, who provided a fresh, energetic and impassioned perspective on her personal motivation to become an Optician, starting with a serendipitous encounter with a complete stranger.
Mackenzie Doan's entry is an insightful essay on how Artificial Intelligence will impact the role of Opticianry.
Rana Younes provided a delightfully clever and artistic entry on how she wants to change the world.
All of the entrants are to be congratulated. We hope that they continue to develop their writing skills as they advance their professional careers. We often hear that today's graduates can't write. These winning entries prove that assumption wrong! said David Pietrobon, Publisher of Optik Magazine.
Optik will be working with each of the winners through the editorial process to publish their entries in Optik Media later this year.
Optik is a division of VuePoint IDS Inc, a Canadian based publisher providing an array of B2B publications and continuing education services in the Canadian and International markets.
