Savannah Hammer – JCHS Grad Receives Doctorate of Optometry

Savannah Hammer, a graduate of Jefferson County High School, will be helping people see more clearly.

Since she was 16 years old, Savannah knew that she wanted to be an optometrist. She knew what classes would be required, what credits would transfer, and the path that she wanted to take. While most of her peers didn’t know for sure, Savannah had her goals set, and focused on what she needed to get there.

Savannah graduated high school in 2010, and started her collegiate journey at Walter’s State Community College. She then transferred to Carson-Newman University, where she received her degree in Bio Chemistry in 2014. After graduation, Savannah took a year off, to take a break and save up some money by working in the Food Service Department at Jefferson Memorial Hospital. It did not take long for her to be ready to go back to school, though, as she was ready to move on to the next chapter.

In the Fall of 2015, Savannah started attending Classes at the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis. The college, which has campuses in Indiana, Kentucky, and Alabama, only has one campus in the state of Tennessee. Adjusting to life in the Memphis area, Savannah was busy with a heavy class load for the first two years, with 23 to 24 credit hours. The last two years still left little time for anything other than studying, as she was still taking seven to eight credit hours, plus an additional eight to ten hours a day for clinicals.

Now that she has received her Degree, Savannah has moved back to East Tennessee. Back in December, she interviewed with Volunteer Eyecare, and will be practicing at the Halls location beginning mid June to early July.

As for the Jefferson County Class of 2019, Savannah offers some advice. “Do the best you can, you don’t have to be the absolute best, but don’t waste your time and money either. You don’t have to immediately know what you want to do, but I do know people that have wasted even more time going back because of not really knowing”. Savannah told of a dear friend of hers, who recently graduated from Veterinary School. She didn’t know what she wanted to do for sure until her junior year of college, but she set a goal and successfully completed the program at UT Vet School.

Savannah’s story is now beginning a new chapter, as she settles in to her new home and new career. Good luck and best wishes to Dr. Savannah Hammer, and all of the recent graduates from us here at the Jefferson County Post.