Optometry Love Story: From Best Friends to Something Much More for PCO Grads
The first time Riya Paranthan, OD ‘14, and Rohit Sachdeva, OD ‘14, crossed paths, they were at orientation waiting in line to have their photos taken for their badges as students in their first-year at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO), Salus University. Rohit cut the line in front of her to have his photo taken first. That’s not exactly how budding romances start.
“When I was done getting my photo taken, he was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps,” said Dr. Paranthan. “They had made him go ahead of everyone else in line because he was a Canadian student and as such had to go through additional orientation lectures for international students. He was so apologetic. I was immediately impressed by his courteous nature.”
Still, the sparks didn’t fly immediately between the two classmates. During their first few years at PCO, the two saw each other at social events, hang-out spots, and were in the same common group of friends.
“School didn’t allow for having much of a romantic relationship at the time,” said Dr. Paranthan.
As their education progressed, they rarely saw each other — she was doing a rotation in North Carolina and he was completing one in Miami. On those times when she found herself in Philadelphia on a rotation, he had one on the opposite coast in California.
In fact, Dr. Paranthan said, very few people in their class knew about their budding relationship. “In the whole school, no one even knew we were dating because we really weren’t. They just knew we were best friends,” she said.
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