We’re excited to highlight our alumni through a series of Darlington Connects blogs written by members of the Alumni Council. Today, Calista Harden Smith (’95, LD ’18) shares a spotlight on Shazia Ahmed (‘95).
Shazia Ahmed (‘95) started Darlington in her junior year of high school. Darlington was her fourth high school after following her mother’s consulting jobs from Chicago to Houston to Atlanta. She and her mother saw boarding school as an opportunity for stability and exploration.
“I found Darlington empowering,” Shazia shared. “It gave me a freedom of choice.”
She took advantage of this freedom and not having to worry about transportation to extracurricular activities to get involved in many things. She worked on The Darlingtonian newspaper and was a member of the debate team.
Darlington exposed Shazia to a breadth of experiences, even those that may not have seemed as appealing to her. “You are forced to go out of your comfort zone and grow,” she said. “ I was not athletic, but I remember doing wall climbs during trust exercises. Darlington reinforced wholistic development.”
She took these skills with her to Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude in mechanical engineering. Shazia initially envisioned using her engineering background as a foundation for going into orthopedic medicine. However, her mother’s experience with a cataract surgery sparked her passion for ophthalmology.
“I saw how much impact the surgery had right away. One day a patient can’t drive and have limited things they can do,” she said. “In 24 hours after the survey, their ability to engage in life fully is restored.”
Shazia earned her doctorate in medicine from the Medical College of Georgia. She completed her residency in ophthalmology at Tufts Medical Center followed by a fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine. After her fellowship, she spent 10 years in Boston, which included stints at ophthalmology practices and at a vision care start-up.
“After the first five years of practicing medicine, I was restless.” Shazia shared. “I wanted to make a societal impact and be a part of something innovative.”
In 2013, she became chief medical officer on the founding team of 2020 Onsite, a vision care company that provided mobile and on-site eye care services.
Shazia’s passion for societal impact is not limited to her profession. She has been involved in community organizing and engagement, especially to make sure people of color and Muslim American communities are informed and engaged in citizenship and the political process.
“No one wants to be told who to vote for. They want to go beyond sound bites and attacks to understand the policy,” Shazia said. “I am more interested in people making educated decisions than controlling or affecting the outcome.”
Shazia’s interests in public policy, community engagement, and communications are rooted, in part, in her English classes with Skip Sanders and government courses with Steve Killian at Darlington. “Being in their classes pushed me to analyze more critically. I learned how stories and arguments are constructed,” she said. “You realize that asking the right questions is an important skill.”
Shazia’s curiosity extends to her personal interests as she loves to travel and is always looking to expand her network of friends as she continues to explore her new home in D.C. She moved to greater Washington, D.C., area during the pandemic, where she practices as a part of the Arlington Eye Center.
Are you a member of the Darlington Community (or do you know one) with an interesting career or community involvement? We'd love to spotlight you in a future blog! Please email connect@darlingtonschool.org if you are interested in being featured.
