Career clarity and human impact in vision science
Co-op helped Ameera Khan discover her passion for tangible human impact through her unexpected yet eye-opening career path into vision science.
Ameera Khan (she/her) is a fourth-year Biology student minoring in Psychology. Her journey shows that career paths are not linear but are built through trial, discovery and reflection. Through her co-op experiences, she explores how staying curious and open to change can lead you to places you never planned to go but are exactly where you’re meant to be.
Ameera's co-op journey
Optical assistant, Dresden Vision
During Ameera's two work terms here, she collaborated with opticians and optometrists to edge lenses, dispense contact lenses and assist patients with their eyewear needs. Through this role, she had the opportunity to work with a diverse range of patients, help address their vision concerns and gain hands-on insight into the optical field and its many applications.
Communications and marketing associate, University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Science
Ameera created content for social media and websites for the optometry community and the Waterloo Eye Institute, combining her creative interests with her passion for eye care and patient education.
Q&A with Ameera
What has been the most rewarding thing about co-op?
I always like to approach each co-op as an opportunity to learn and broaden my skills, however small they may be. When you start working in a role that you may feel underqualified for, every time your responsibilities are expanded and you notice yourself becoming confident in tasks that were completely foreign to you, you can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Each challenge becomes proof of how much you’ve evolved, both personally and professionally.
On a more personal level, interacting with health-care providers and patients has been the most rewarding aspect of my co-op roles. I still remember moments like when an elderly woman I prepared progressive lenses for brought me homemade cannolis in Little Italy, or when a patient hugged me after being able to read clearly for the first time in years. Those experiences reminded me why I chose this path; to make a tangible human impact and help people see the world a little more clearly.
What sort of challenges did you face?
When you begin undergrad, you often have a clear idea of what you want to do and what that path will look like and sometimes, you realize that reality doesn’t quite match the plan. That’s exactly what happened to me. Switching from Biochemistry to Biology wasn’t the hard part; it was coming to terms with the fact that a research career in biochemistry wasn’t what I had envisioned. I realized that the pathway best for me had tangible human impact, preferably in a patient-facing role. By the time I made this realization, I was already applying for my first co-op and was completely unsure of where to go next.
Around that same time, my mother began having trouble with her vision and was later diagnosed with a cataract. Seeing her experience with eye care professionals sparked a curiosity I hadn’t explored before. On a bit of a whim, I applied to a handful of optometry-related jobs with only a vague idea of what the work involved and a practically empty résumé. It was a leap into the unknown, but one that ended up reshaping my entire path.
Did your classroom learning prepare you for your co-ops or did you do more learning on the job?
Your work and studies are serving you and your career the most when they complement each other. This is completely unique to each person and their specific experiences, but for me this connection has been evident in each of my roles.
I have never considered myself a math or physics person and I remember struggling with optics in a physics class back in first year. Then, during my time at Dresden Vision, my manager explained the same principles but this time, through the lens of the human eye. Suddenly, it all made sense. After months of cutting lenses and explaining these concepts to patients, I understood them better than I ever had in a classroom.
Similarly, I had learned about the physiology of the eye in my biology and psychology courses, and I later applied that knowledge while writing patient education pieces for the Waterloo Eye Institute, such as an article on cataracts.
That experience taught me that while classroom learning provides the foundation, applying that knowledge in real-world situations is what truly brings it to life.
How has co-op helped you with your career goals?
It’s not only the roles you take on but also each task that you complete in your co-op terms that can help you pivot and reorient your goals towards a career that you want.
For me, my first co-op role helped me fall in love with the field of vision care and my second role helped deepen my understanding of the many facets within the field. Together, they showed me that career growth isn’t about following a single straight path, it’s about exploring, adjusting and allowing your interests to evolve.
I’ve found that keeping myself in spaces where I can continue learning has allowed me to gain valuable mentors who have taught me lessons that could never be learned in a classroom.
What’s next for you?
I have explored the patient facing side of optometry as well as the behind-the-scenes side of the field. Although I realized early on that doing research in biochemistry was not as exciting to me as I had hoped, vision science is its own field and I am hoping to learn more about what bridging vision care and research can look like. Before my next co-op term, I am eager to gain volunteer experience in this field and continue learning where the journey can take me. I would also like to return to working in an optometry clinic sometime in the near future as I find it very rewarding.
Outside of work and academics, I make it a priority to pursue hobbies that keep me grounded and inspired, like boxing, photography and reading. Recently, I’ve been exploring both fiction and philosophy. I find myself found myself drawn to Donna Tartt and Søren Kierkegaard, who are very different writers but both explore questions about purpose and self-understanding that I’ve been thinking about more lately. It’s been a good reminder to slow down, stay curious and keep learning in different ways.
If there is one thing my co-op journey has taught me, it’s that growth doesn’t come from following a fixed plan but instead from staying curious, taking chances and learning from every experience along the way.