Becoming Dr. Lydia

BACK TO SCHOOL GIVEAWAY 👁️📚✨

Optometry school is exciting, rewarding, challenging, and sometimes you just need a little something to make those long study sessions and clinic days easier. 🤍

As we head into another school year, I wanted to pour a little love back into the optometry student community.

I’ll be selecting TWO optometry students to receive their very own Back-to-School OD Student Survival Kit filled with:

👁️ Clinic + study essentials
📚 School supplies
🧴 Self-care goodies
🎁 A gift card
✨ And a few surprise extras!

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Follow .Dr.Lydia
2. Like 3 of my posts
3. Tag an optometry or pre-optometry student below
4. Repost this flyer to your story and tag me so I can see it!

Entries will be accepted August 10th through August 15th.

🏆 TWO winners will be announced August 16th!

Whether you’re walking into your first semester or heading back for another year of becoming the doctor you prayed to be, I hope this serves as a little reminder that someone is rooting for you. 🥹👁️🤍

Good luck, Future ODs! ✨



This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Instagram or any institutions that I am affiliated with.

“Don’t let yesterday’s fears steal today’s possibilities.” ✨

Becoming Dr. Lydia (Optometrist) & Dr. Natalie (Pediatric Neurologist). 🤎

Community is key.

We met in 2022, and our friendship was first built through the shared challenges of graduate school while earning our Master of Biomedical Sciences degrees. Today, it’s sustained by faith, encouragement, and cheering each other on from afar.

Here’s to becoming an optometrist and a pediatric neurologist, and to the friendships that remind us we were never meant to pursue our dreams alone. The journey has been long, but every step has been worth it. ✨

From the dirt roads of Mississippi to the national stage, this Southern Belle 👒 is living proof that faith, consistency, and service can open doors you never imagined. I do not take this NEW opportunity lightly. 🌟🙏🏾

On July 11, 2026, at approximately 9:25 P.M., I etched my name into a legacy of service and leadership when I was sworn in as the inaugural National Director of Communications for the National Optometric Student Association.🇺🇸👩🏽‍⚕️👁️

This moment was more than an election. It was confirmation. Confirmation that the personal brand, social media presence, and authentic connections I have intentionally cultivated were already planted in the hearts and minds of others, building trust long before my name ever appeared on a ballot. Confirmation that stepping out on faith can place you in rooms you once only prayed to enter. ✝️

To every person who saw my vision, believed in my leadership, and entrusted me with your vote, thank you. Your support carried this Southern Belle from the dirt roads of Mississippi into a position of National service, and I will honor that trust with excellence. 👒🔝

As the inaugural Director of Communications, I look forward to elevating the organization, strengthening our national presence, amplifying the voices of our members, and setting a standard that will serve NOSA for years to come.

I am equally honored to stand and serve alongside these mighty trailblazers as we write the next chapter of this organization’s legacy together. 🥹💙
•President: Loveth Aleburu |School:
•Vice President: Joshua Smith |School:
•Secretary: Kennedy Cofield |School:
•Treasurer: Carolyn Ly | School: .mcphs
•Director of Communications: Lydia Holland |school:
•Director of Operations & External Affairs: Rohana Chintakindi | School:

If I had to choose two words to describe my first National Optometric Association Convention, they would be: “intentional bonding”. 🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒

Bonding with fellow optometry students, African American legends in our profession, and members of the Greater St. Louis community we were privileged to serve.

From beginning the weekend with a VSP Serve Where You Go service partnership, to learning how we can improve access to eye care, stepping outside my comfort zone at networking events, and ending with a celebration of our profession, every moment carried purpose.

This weekend reminded me that our responsibility extends far beyond the exam room. Vision care is also about building trust, strengthening communities, advocating for equity, and making quality eye care accessible to all.

Thank you, NOA, for a weekend filled with service, education, leadership, and connection. I’m already looking forward to next year. 💙

Commitment is shown, not solely spoken.

What an honor it was to serve the St. Louis community through the partnership of NOA, NOSA, and VSP Vision. Grateful for every opportunity to help make quality eye care more accessible and to serve where I am planted. 💙👁️

A 40-year-old man presented with a unilateral progressive decline in visual acuity and blurred vision. He described the vision as "looking through a fog" and complained of difficulty recognizing faces.

He denied ocular pain, floaters and ocular truama.. The progressive visual loss had caused him significant anxiety, and he feared that he was "going blind."

Best-corrected visual acuity in the affected eye was 6/60. Fundus examination revealed optic disc oedema associated with a macular star (stellate maculopathy).

Laboratory investigations were unremarkable. No infectious or inflammatory aetiology was identified, and brain imaging was normal.

What is your diagnosis? What would be your management plan to prevent further visual loss?

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