Shane Keast, OD

It is interesting thinking about where you are in life and how you got there.

I never had that big “A-HA! I know what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.” moment. My career path was more of an uncharted journey that culminated with me being an optometrist.

I was born in Wisconsin and my parents were dairy farmers. My grandparents were farmers. My aunts and uncles and cousins were farmers. Farming is hard work. God bless our farmers. I was never going to be a farmer.

In college, I studied biology, however, at the time, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my degree. Maybe I could be a marine biologist. The thought of sailing the ocean and hanging out at the beach or on the water working was pretty appealing to a kid from rural Wisconsin. No matter what, I knew I needed more ocean, beach, and sun in my life… so I moved to Florida.

I love Florida. This was where I was meant to be. Now, what was I meant to be? I had worked in a biotech lab. I had worked in wildlife management. I had worked numerous odd jobs but I hadn’t figured out what was right for me.

A part-time job working for an optometrist made me seriously consider optometry as a profession. Fortunately, I was blessed with great vision and I guess I took it for granted because the idea of a career in eye care never crossed my mind. However, seeing the patients’ happiness after their vision was improved and learning more about the combination of physics, biology, medicine, and psychology of optometry I was hooked.

I decided to apply to optometry college. Thankfully, I was accepted and after years of study, I am blessed to have a career that I enjoy.