Becoming Dr. Lydia

01/27/2026

01/24/2026

Rain, sleet, or snow, I must show up to be the best student I can be. ❄️📚

Inclement weather challenged my routine, but it did not change my commitment to showing up for knowledge.

01/15/2026

Message me 📩 if you’re tired of doing everything right and still feeling on edge.
We don’t spiral.🌀
We stabilize.
We protect our focus.
We follow a routine.
We build safety before pressure.

This is how we win in .

01/14/2026

First day of 2nd Semester OD-2. 💙
Paging “Student Doctor Lydia”. 🥼🩺

01/13/2026

Some use titles to describe change, while others use them to make change. I was honored to join the Missouri Optometric Association and six fellow student doctors in advocating for the optometric profession at the Missouri State Capitol.

Special thank you to Raegan Dunkmann,
UMSL College of Optometry MOSA President, for being a consistent leader in student advocacy and for inspiring me to take action. And to Dr. Jeremy Fast, Treasurer of the Missouri Optometric Association, for being a steadfast change agent at the Capitol and for encouraging me to share the student perspective on key optometric legislation with Missouri Senators and House Representatives.

Advocacy remains essential to protecting patient access to care and advancing the future of optometry through thoughtful, collaborative legislation.

12/31/2025

2025 was a great year.

12/25/2025

So many gifts to be thankful for this Christmas 🎁🤍

🎁 Growing as a Social Media Influencer .
🎁 Successfully passing Fall 2025 and becoming 3/8ths of an Optometrist
🎁 Earning my spot in the Spring 2026 White Coat class
🎁 Working two jobs this year—MD/OD practice and retail optometry—gaining experience beyond the classroom walls.
🎁 Choosing therapy and fitness to protect my peace and manage life’s weight
🎁 Keeping God first through it all 🙏🏽

Gifts I gave my loved ones 🎁
🎁 Hugs
🎁 An invitation to my White Coat Ceremony 🤍👩🏽‍⚕️

Merry Christmas. Grateful, growing, and still chasing the dream. Looking forward to more brand deals, academic success and special moments with my family. ✨🎄

12/02/2025

November poured out a whole lot of little blessings on me 🤭🧡✨

From learning how to perform A-scan & B-scan ocular ultrasounds (yes, the eyeball ultrasound that looks like a baby ultrasound 😂👶🏽👁️) to diving deep into charting, diagnosis, and full comprehensive exams, this month ignited my passion for clinic.

As I worked through more pharmacology, I gained an even deeper appreciation for how the entire body works with the eyes — not separate from them. That connection? 🔗🧠👁️ It hits DIFFERENT when you’re in the thick of patient care.

And listen… your girl accidentally became the celebrity intern of the office 😭🎤
Patients were name-dropping me in reviews, and I truly found joy in giving every single person compassionate care, asking the right questions, and even catching red flags that supported life-saving cases. THAT part humbled me and reminded me why I chose this profession. 🩺💛

I’m learning what it really means to be a healthcare PROVIDER — not just someone wearing a white coat, but someone patients can trust with their eyes, their health, and their peace of mind.

Swipe through for my November photodump: scrubs, ocular ultrasounds, charting examples, diagnoses, flashcards, and the study grind that keeps the dream alive 📸📚✨

(All patient information has been redacted. Permission was granted for all sharable content. Charting shown is educational practice only. No HIPAA rules were violated.)

10/27/2025

Janelle Davison, O.D., is reinvigorating her practice with a dry eye clinic.

10/27/2025

Monday throwback 🤍
Two 18-year-olds ready to take healthcare by storm, and we’ve done just that.
12 years of friendship, growth, and striving for clinical excellence in our respective fields.
Photos like these remind me to keep going. ✨👩🏽‍⚕️

10/24/2025

Several generations prayed for this moment, long before I ever held a lens or looked through a slit lamp. As my Uncle Melvin sat in the chair and I stood before him as Student Doctor Holland, it hit me: we made it. Every sacrifice, every whispered prayer, every door that once said no—faith turned it into not yet.

I haven’t earned my white coat yet, but I carry the weight of every ancestor who dreamed of this sight. And I’m deeply grateful for my Uncle Melvin, who’s stepped up in ways only a mother’s brother could after her passing. His love and support have kept me grounded on this journey.

This isn’t just optometry. This is legacy. ✨🖤
(Consent granted for educational examination & social media posting.)

10/18/2025

Back on site at one of my favorite places - Walmart Vision Center. 💙👁️So grateful to have the chance to sharpen my investigative skills during patient intake, practice refraction (making prescriptions) and slit lamp examinations (checking the health of the layers of someone’s eyes) on patients with varying demographics and conditions. God always has a way of giving me cases that apply exactly to what I’m learning in class. Cheers to a world class education at that laid the foundation and a world class preceptor (Dr. Wollbrink at Walmart) that molds my confidence and clinical decisions.