(PRESS RELEASE) NEW YORK, NY — SUNY College of Optometry and the Student Optometric Association for Private Practice (SOAPP) were awarded the 2024 Preston Cup at the annual SOLutioN Conference in Nashville, TN earlier this month. The Preston Cup is awarded each year to the most deserving Student Optometric Leadership Network (SOLN) private practice or practice management club. Each SOLN member attending the annual conference votes on which of their fellow organizations has gone above and beyond over the past year. This marks the second time and the second year in a row that SUNY Optometry has received the top honor since the Preston Cup was first awarded in 2012. On hand to accept the award were SUNY Optometry students Kaitlyn Nguyen, ’26 and Julianna Dolinski, ’25.
Kaitlyn Nguyen is a 3rd year student, originally from Southern California where she received a B.S in Biochemistry at UCLA. In addition to being the incoming President of SOAPP, Ms. Nguyen is involved in the Peer Mentorship Program for first years and is also an E-Board member on Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH). Outside of school, she loves going on runs through NYC and trying new foods in the city.
“I have always been passionate about private practice,” Ms. Nguyen noted, “But winning this award justifies my decision even further to pursue this mode of practice in the future. Julianna and I are very grateful to have accepted this award and are proud to bring it back to SUNY Optometry.”
Julianna Dolinski is a current 4th year student and the president of SOAPP. Originally from Long Island, New York where she also attended Hofstra University as a biology major, she is passionate about private practice and hopes to be a practice owner with a specialty in contact lenses in the future. Outside of SOAPP, she is a small business owner providing clinical resources to optometry students, a member of the junior e-board of SOLN, and involved in Beta Sigma Kappa (BSK). She continues to be a technician at a local practice and takes healthcare administration courses outside of SUNY. Beyond the eyes, she also enjoys playing the piano, mountain biking, and tennis.
The Preston Cup was created in honor of Preston Smith, a 4th year student at Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry (NSUOCO), and one of the founding members of SOLN during the first annual Student Private Practice Symposium and Leadership Conference held in April 2011. Tragically, at only 26-years-old, Preston was killed in an automobile accident that same year. This award carries on Preston’s legacy while the loss still weighs heavy on the hearts of many friends and family Preston left behind.
