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Optometry
It started with just a passing glance but it was the closest thing to love at first sight that either had experienced. And, they both knew it.
In the winter of 2022, Maya Johnson ‘26AUD, was coming out of the library on the Elkins Park campus of Drexel University at the same time Kendrick Crawford, OD ‘25, was coming in. “I was like ‘Wow, he is very attractive.’ I was staring at him, but this was my first year in grad school, and I didn’t want to get sidetracked,” said Johnson.
Dr. Crawford experienced a similar feeling. “I thought, ‘Ohhh, who’s that? I haven’t seen her before.’ We made eye contact for a second, but we just kept walking. I was hoping I’d see her again,” he said.
It was at that point that fate said never mind, I’ll take it from here.
Things started to develop soon thereafter during a busy time for second-year Doctor of Optometry students. Dr. Crawford was spending a lot of time practicing in the Clinical Skills Lab on the Elkins Park campus. On one of those practice days, he had finished up his first session, was breaking to go home for dinner, then returned later that evening to the lab for more practice.
As he was heading to his car in the parking lot, he ran into a friend and stopped to chat. At that moment, Juliana Mosley-Williams, PhD, CDP, stopped to join their conversation.
“She asked, ‘Are you two going to the Hafter Center for the mixer?’ We said, no,” recalled Dr. Crawford. “Then she added, ‘There’s going to be free food there.”
Turns out that fate likes free food, too. Although he didn’t think he was appropriately dressed for a social event after having been in the lab for hours, Dr. Crawford decided to attend the mixer.
Johnson had always planned to attend the mixer, and her hope was Dr. Crawford would be there, too.
“I made sure I did my hair, and my outfit was on point,” said Johnson. “I made sure I was looking good. When he caught me coming out of the library, I wasn’t looking my best. I wanted him to see a different side of me.”
Dr. Crawford got to the mixer first. And, he saw Johnson come in. The whole time, she was looking at him, sending strong eye contact his way. “I wanted him to know I was interested,” she said.
And, boy, did he notice. “I definitely picked up that signal. When she came in, my heart dropped a little. I didn’t know she was going to be there. When I looked at her, she was looking straight at me. I had to say something,” said Dr. Crawford.
After that first introductory meeting, things developed quickly between the two. For an institution that emphasizes interprofessional collaborative practices, this was turning into an interprofessional collaboration of love between a Doctor of Audiology student in the Osborne Audiology department and a Doctor of Optometry student at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Drexel University.
Despite the rigors of graduate and professional school, they were able to develop their personal relationship as well over the next few years. They spent quality time studying, taking breaks, and having lunches together.
“I thought it was easy because we both understood the stress and the amount of time needed for studying,” said Johnson. “If he had to go study, I wasn’t upset; I was doing the same thing. We knew how to accommodate each other.”
When Dr. Crawford graduated in 2025 from PCO/Drexel, he returned to his hometown of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and now works at MyEyeDr in Burleson, Texas. Johnson, originally from New York, was able to secure her final year-long Doctor of Audiology externship there so the two could be together.
And, now they plan to marry. Although Johnson knew a proposal was coming, she wasn’t sure when. Thanksgiving 2025 came and went, and so did Christmas 2025. Still no ring.
But Dr. Crawford had it handled. Both had joined the non-denominational IMRSN (pronounced Immersion) church, something very important to them, and Dr. Crawford planned to propose on New Year’s Eve just before the calendar turned to 2026. IMRSN pastor Brandon Freeman was in on the plan, and during the New Year’s Eve service, he called Dr. Crawford to the pulpit.
“I was ushering, and when I saw Kendrick walking up to the stage, I thought, ‘Wow, the pastor is going to pray for him,’” said Johnson. “When Kendrick said, ‘I have a special message for a special person, I thought, ‘Who’s he talking about?’”
Johnson joined Dr. Crawford up front, and when he got down on one knee and proposed, the entire congregation started cheering and shouting. As an admirable bit of smooth and thoughtful planning, Dr. Crawford, with the help of his best friend, had arranged for Johnson’s mother in New York and her sister in Florida to FaceTime into the ceremony so they could witness the proposal in real time.
The couple is going to try to thread the needle on the wedding date. Johnson finishes her residency on May 7, 2026, and then graduates in the College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHP) ceremony on June 10 in Philadelphia. That’s the window in which they hope to get married.
Funny thing about fate. In addition to the sparks between the two, it had been working in their favor all along. What was then Salus University prior to the 2025 merger with Drexel University, it wasn’t the first graduate school choice for either of them. Johnson had been wait-listed at a school in Arizona and confidently accepted the Salus invitation. Dr. Crawford was looking for a school closer to his Dallas-Fort Worth roots, but the incessantly positive PCO recruitment methods made him feel like the College really wanted him.
But from that first glance, Johnson had an inkling Dr. Crawford was the right guy for her.
“There were sparks right away. People talk about love at first sight, but I knew,” she said. “I was confident that we were going to go far. I hadn’t even heard him talk yet at that first mixer, and I knew he was a keeper.”
