Success Story
Dr. Joshua Hopkins
Optometrist
The decision to return to Northeast Nebraska was clear for Dr. Joshua Hopkins. Hopkins, 30, who practices optometry in Norfolk and Wayne, always wanted to be in Northeast Nebraska and viewed this corner of the state as the ideal place to raise a family and continue his professional career.
The 1993 Norfolk High graduate and his wife, Jenny, returned to Norfolk in May 2001 after spending four years in Indiana, where he finished his schooling. The adage that you have to leave a place in order to appreciate what you have there was applicable in the Hopkins’ case.
Even before heading to Bloomington, Ind., Hopkins said he had set a goal of someday practicing back here with Dr. Bill Meyer, a Norfolk optometrist who Hopkins already had a good working relationship with.
“We always thought at some point - we didn’t know when - that I would end up back in Norfolk and working at that practice,” Hopkins said. The young couple also had goals of starting a family and found no better place to be than close to relatives.
Mrs. Hopkins, the former Jenny Broekemeier, hails from Central City and has relatives in the Osmond area. They met while both were students are Nebraska Christian College in Norfolk. Hopkins continued his education at Wayne State College and the couple was married before they moved to Indiana to finish his schooling at Indiana University. Both liked the beautiful scenery in the Bloomington area and, like many residents of that area, took a liking to Indiana University basketball. But there was void that both felt needed to be filled.
“I think that most important need we had was to be close to our family,” Hopkins said. “We saw this as our goal for the family we were going to have.” The couple now has two sons, Brock, 3 and Keden, who is 14 months old. Jenny is able to be a full-time, stay-at-home mom.
The work pace for Hopkins is a bit of a balancing act as he works with Dr. Larry Magnuson at Magnuson Eye Care in Wayne on Tuesdays and Thursdays and practices with Eye Physicians in Norfolk on Mondays and Saturdays.
Hopkins said there are many advantages about having a career in a smaller area compared to being a little fish in a big pond in a larger city.
“The good thing about building a practice in a small town is news travels fast,” he said with a smile. “And if you make a mistake, news travels faster.”
Experience is always the best teacher, and Hopkins said finishing his education in a state halfway across the county made him mature personally and professionally.
“I think that everyone should go away to school and learn what’s out there,” he said. “If you go there, then you know what’s out there and it makes you grow.”
- Story Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News
