2025 president Joanna Cao and vice president Shubham Gupta have had a busy year leading NZOSS

This has been a productive year for the New Zealand Optometry Student Society (NZOSS), marked by continued growth and fresh takes on our established events. In 2025, we delivered 19 events, including collaborations with other faculties and Australian universities. Student engagement reached all-time highs, with record-breaking turnouts at our education seminars, the Re:Vision seminar and sports day.

The year commenced with our part II orientation, followed by our annual camp at Epworth Retreat & Recreation Centre in the Waikato. These early events provided an opportunity for new and returning students to connect before the semester started. This was followed by our welcome BBQ, where we handed out new NZOSS merch, thanks to our generous sponsors. The mugs and sunglass pouches were a crowd pleaser, as well as the tote bag design from our amazing media representative, Sarah Yang.

A highlight for this year was sports day, held for the first time at Hiwa, the university’s new recreation centre. Students competed in teams for a chance to win $400 Westfield vouchers and Ray-Ban sunglasses, generously sponsored by OPSM. Due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback, NZOSS decided to host a second sports day for the first time to celebrate and get active after cramming for the November exams!

Of course, the year would not be complete without our annual Eye Ball, which was held at Auckland’s The Maritime Room. Our diamond sponsor was Specsavers and it was great to be reunited with our 2023 president Juliette Lim, who awarded the best-dressed male and female for the evening. The event would not have been possible without the help of all our sponsors, who donated many prizes ranging from study snacks and sunnies to equipment, such as an AlgerBrush and Mastrota paddle.

Student engagement peaked at our academic events for the year. Our second education seminar introduced a new element: the case-study edition, where our general sponsors brought along unique and thought-provoking cases to share with us. The Re:Vision seminar was a great finish to the academic year and provided the opportunity for part II students to refine their direct ophthalmology skills under the guidance of senior students (who also got to brush-up on their skills).

The final event will be the graduation dinner at the Pullman Auckland Hotel. This will be a time for the part V students to celebrate their journey and achievements with their peers and supervisors. Thank you again to Specsavers and OPSM (our gold sponsor) for helping to make this event happen.

Reflecting on the year, it has definitely been hectic but very rewarding. I would like to express my appreciation towards Shubham Gupta, our vice president, and the rest of the 2025 NZOSS team for their hard work and dedication. Looking forward, I’m very happy to announce and congratulate our new president, Angeli De Silva, and her new executive team. I’m confident they’ll bring fresh energy and lead NZOSS into an exciting new chapter for 2026!

Joanna Cao is the outgoing New Zealand Optometry Student Society president.