Grace Broach, a a second year student in UMSL’s College of Optometry, was recently named a member of CooperVision’s Student Contact Lens Leadership Society. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

As a second year student in the College of Optometry at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, Grace Broach hasn’t taken a formal contact lens class yet. But she’s already gotten a head start learning about the contact lens industry as a member of CooperVision’s Student Contact Lens Leadership Society.

The society provides educational experiences for students in optometry schools across North America who are interested in elevating their contact lens knowledge, and Broach was named a 2025-26 Student Contact Lens Leader in September. As UMSL’s representative in the society, she will participate in educational and professional development opportunities throughout the year to learn more about contact lenses and gain insight into future employment opportunities.

“I’m using it as an introduction to the world of contact lenses and what they can provide to the patients that wear them,” Broach said. “I’ve worn contacts myself for a few years, and I’ve always been interested in them. I think contact lenses are unique from glasses in the sense that they can achieve some things that glasses can’t. I see contacts as another tool that we can use to give the best care and the best sight to our patients. It’s something that I want to be really well-versed in.”

Along with fellow UMSL optometry student Quynh Nguyen, who is part of CooperVision’s Student Myopia Leadership Society, Broach recently traveled to Boston to attend the American Academy of Optometry’s annual conference in Boston with CooperVision. It was the first optometry conference she’s attended, and she enjoyed having the opportunity to network with fellow students, optometrists and representatives from different contact lens manufacturers.

“It was really awesome,” she said. “I kind of walked in not really knowing what was happening, but it was awesome seeing all of the different brands that showed up and hearing what makes their products different and trying out a few products myself. It was really cool to be around so many like-minded people. At the end of the day, we all have the same goal to be good doctors and care for our patients and the people around us.”

Broach is also looking forward to a trip to New York next spring to visit CooperVision’s facilities, where she’ll get further immersed in what it looks like to actually produce contact lenses.

“It’s something that I personally don’t think about too much,” she said. “I just order them and they show up, but they’re having to produce on such a large scale for a lot of different prescriptions and a lot of different patients. I think it will be really cool to see what all goes into the production.”

In addition to her role as a student leader with CooperVision, Broach is also involved on the UMSL campus as a member of the university’s chapters of the American Optometric Student Association and Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity. Outside of the UMSL campus, she also volunteers with the Delta Gamma Center, which supports children with visual impairments and their families. She enjoys having the opportunity to work with kids, which she feels will make her a well-rounded practitioner, and having the opportunity to give back to the community.

Broach was initially drawn to the family-oriented feel of UMSL’s College of Optometry, which has smaller class sizes where students have the ability to get to know their classmates and professors one-on-one. Two years in, she’s happy that family atmosphere has been a hallmark of her time in optometry school.

“I don’t want to be just a face in the crowd,” Broach said. “I want to know my professors and know my classmates, and UMSL did a good job at showcasing what that means for a rigorous optometry program. I’m sometimes surprised when people know my name, but it just shows that everyone around you wants you to do well and is cheering you on.”

Before starting optometry school, Broach worked as optician, taking measurements and fitting glasses. Although her first optical job was initially just a way to pay the bills, she quickly realized she enjoyed the work and wanted to go further into the field of eye care. And while she felt her experience in the optical industry had given her a decent understanding of what optometry was, her studies at UMSL have helped her realize it’s a whole new world, extending far beyond just glasses and contacts.

“The part of optometry that I never really saw too much was the medical side, because I thankfully haven’t had too many health concerns in my life,” Broach said. “But just seeing how much what we do as optometrists can affect people in their day-to-day life is has been very eye-opening and a very cool experience.”