Optometry Graduates Signal Diploma Season

The schools are decked out. Stationery stores are stocked with aisles full of congratulatory cards, stuffed toy animals wearing caps and gowns and “Class of 1997” T-shirts.

It’s graduation season in Orange County, and colleges and universities will be handing out sheepskins at ceremonies this month and next. High school graduations will be next month.

The first college ceremony this year was staged Friday at Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton, where 92 students were graduated.

This summer, that 24-year-old college will get a major face-lift. Construction of a $16-million library, lecture hall and parking structure will begin Monday.

In addition, Dr. Richard L. Hopping, the founding president of the college, will step down from the top post this summer. Dr. Les Walls, a dean at Pacific University College of Optometry in Oregon, will take over.

Meanwhile, Friday’s graduation included all the traditional pomp and circumstance: the “hooding” of the graduates, who received doctorate degrees, a cheering audience and the roll call.

“I’m really happy,” said graduate Amy To, 26, as tears streamed down her face. “I will miss my friends. They’ve been like a family to me.”

Her future includes a one-year residency program in Arizona.

Classmate Bill Hasquet, 26, said he has begun looking for a job. He may buy into a private practice in Montana. For now, however, “it’s just nice to have the formal education finally over,” he said.

That sentiment most likely will be expressed by the thousands of students who will be graduating in the coming weeks.

“A graduation is a very proud event,” said Julie McGinnis, a career counselor at UC Riverside, who attended the College of Optometry’s commencement. “It’s a life passage.”

Siva Hari, a chemist whose niece graduated Friday, said the ceremony was the first he’s been invited to so far this year. He expects more invitations are forthcoming.

“This is the season,” he said. “It is a very exciting time, a celebration of the transition to the real world.”

Rancho Santiago Community College District Chancellor Vivian Blevins agreed: “Graduation means achievement. It’s always a night of magic for me.”