This past weekend I graduated from pharmacy school with my Pharm.D. and officially became Dr. Coates. It has been a long hard road to get where I am now but I am so thankful that I stuck it out.

Friday night was our hooding Ceremony where we were each individually recognized as doctors for the first time. It was such a surreal moment. I was surrounded by my friends, my parents, my sisters, my best friend and her mom (aka my second mom). This was an incredibly happy moment for me, but I still felt sad because the person who truly got me through pharmacy school couldn’t be there.

All throughout pharmacy school Luke has been my rock. He supported me when I tried something new, understood when I needed to focus on studying, pushed me to be the best I could be, and never ever let me give up on myself. There were many times when I was so overwhelmed that I just wanted to give up. He never let me and always encouraged me to keep moving forward. During the ceremony, we were asked to dedicate a class pin to someone. I dedicated my pin to Luke because I could not have mentally gotten through all of pharmacy school without him.

Thank you Lukey, for everything.

Signing off,

Lindsey Coates, Pharm.D.