Diego Lalla, inspired by his mother’s recovery, moves from Science to Waterloo Optometry

Diego Lalla (BSc ’26) grew up watching his mother struggle with severe vision problems and migraines. After nearly a dozen eye specialists failed to give her an effective plan, she went to the Waterloo Eye Institute Optometry Clinic, where optometry students found the cause and treated it. Lalla says that when her sight began to return, everything clicked.

By Grade 10 he had decided on Waterloo’s School of Optometry and Vision Science, and he picked the Faculty of Science’s Biological and Medical Physics program as the route. A co-op term as a physician’s assistant, working with neurologists, occupational therapists and psychologists, confirmed his plan, and he says co-op mattered to his admission.

Professors Brenda Lee, Josh Neufeld and Stefan Idziak sparked an interest in teaching. He worked as a Learning Assistant at Sheridan College and spent 10 hours a week tutoring on campus. He has now secured his place in the optometry program.