Employee Focus on Freda Dallas Hughley
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Name: Freda Dallas Hughley
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: South Bend, IN
Degrees and Institutions Attended: I graduated from DeVry University with a bachelor’s degree in Health Service Management (cum laude). I am also a licensed Optician.
Current Title: Binocular Vision and Pediatrics Service Coordinator
Years of Employment at the College of Optometry: 20 + years
Q&A
What brought you to the College of Optometry?
It’s a long story. However, I received a call from Shawn Curtner that there was an opening and after turning him down a couple of times, the third time, I said “yes” to the opportunity of a lifetime.
Describe your typical day at work.
While there is no “typical day” in the BVP/VT services, I get to assist our college in various ways. In this department we schedule children as young as six months old for comprehensive eye exams, as well as adults as young as 99 for various binocular vision disorders. When the schedule suddenly becomes empty, members of our BV/VT team find creative ways to fill the schedule back up in order for our interns to maximize their learning experiences. We process forms for those who were injured on their job through BWC. We work with attorneys and other outside professionals to assist in the care of our unique patient demographics.
I am also a coordinator for vision research, where I assist Dr. Marjean Kulp with recruitment of potential study subjects through the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG). Another hat I wear for the college is assisting with Fun Friday for our clinic team. This consists of sending out birthday cards to our clinic team members as well as planning fun activities during the last Friday of every month. I am a proud member of the OSU College of Optometry Diversity and Inclusion committee, as well as a member of the EDI committee for PEDIG. To summarize the question asked, any given day, I can be found performing these various roles (and other tasks), while assisting wherever I can to help our team, interns, faculty and patients accomplish their tasks.
What brings you the most joy in your work?
My self-proclaimed title is to be a patient advocate. This is especially true for our Traumatic Brian Injury patients. It is rewarding to help them regain some of the abilities that they lost and defeat the odds of their recovery. I love seeing all of our patients succeed in vision therapy, especially those who struggled with daily tasks such as reading. It brings me joy to see some of our vision therapy graduates who could not read bring in their favorite chapter books to share with us. I also enjoy the camaraderie we have as a team in our clinic family.
What do you do for fun outside of work?
When I am not working on entrepreneurial goals, I love to travel with my husband, Clinton, as well as spend time with my 101-year-old mom, our 12 grandchildren and other family members. I also work in my community, church and volunteer for OSU events when possible.
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Although I don’t play the lottery very often (since Deanna left), I often dream of this coming true. Depending on the amount I won, first I would probably change my phone number, contact my attorney and an accountant. Then I would set up investment accounts for our grandbabies, pay off all of our immediate family’s debt, purchase a few properties and move to an island for six months.