The life and career of 2008 Ferris State University Michigan College of Optometry alumna Dr. Emily Coles prove that professional success and exemplary community service can be accomplished within miles, even blocks from where they were raised.
“All the skills I have acquired, both professionally and those that help me in roles outside the office, came because of my education. I graduated from Big Rapids High School in 2000 and continued a family tradition by heading to Michigan Tech, where I graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology,” said Coles, whose father is Dr. Fred Guenther, a retired obstetrician and currently the mayor of Big Rapids. “I did apply to another school of optometry beyond MCO, but I very much wanted to come back home for this learning. I was so pleased to be accepted.”
Coles began her professional practice with Optometric Associates and, in 2016, became the business owner of what is now Big Rapids Family Eyecare. If the id