While attending Queen Elizabeth Secondary I received many Outstanding Achievement Awards in subjects, such as Mathematics, Chemistry, Punjabi, and other academic subjects. Education is a very important tool that anyone needs to move ahead in life. I told fellow students that academics is a very important aspect of their life, but in today’s society what students do outside of school is important as well. Meaning, they should be going out in their community building strong relationships with others and volunteering for their community. Gaining practical knowledge when volunteering is a very important experience that all young kids should consider heavily. From my personal experience when volunteering I met many great people whom I have become great friends with today. With volunteering I have learnt that the value of helping others is priceless and no one can ever change that.
After graduating from Queen Elizabeth Secondary I entered the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, where I am currently doing my Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Upon from graduating high school I always looked back at the people I went to school with. Many of these students that I met in recent years have told me they wished they went to university like me, even though they had the top marks to get accepted, financial assistance was a major concern for them. I told one of my very good friends, Jaideep Kular, a student at the Sauder School of Business at University of British Columbia that we could start something small up and help others by giving them scholarship funds. Jaideep and I both cofounded a non-profit organization called SOAR Philanthropic Society, where I serve as President and CEO, along with Jaideep Kular being Vice President. Starting something that was “small” in the beginning has grown so much that today students from Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, Kwanlten Polytechnic University, Langara College, and many other institutions and high schools, have all decided to be part of SOAR Philanthropic Society. We all work together as a team and hold various fundraising projects to provide scholarship funds. If one can make a small aspect so big in life that means anyone in this world can do the same. Nothing is impossible in life, if we have a set goal that we wish to achieve and a strong heart, where we are willing to go through all the ups and downs. In order to bring change in any form, you must bring change within yourself first. You have to step and must be willing to dedicate the time and effort to change yourself to who you want to be.
At SOAR our vision is to create an equal playing field for each student when it comes to applying for and attending post-secondary institutions, with our main focus being on providing scholarships. On September 20, 2013 SOAR Philanthropic Society held the SOAR Banquet in Surrey, B.C. This was our first annual banquet, where we were able to get a crowd of over 270 people that night. Entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, and many other great people from different professions had joined us that night. Our main guest speakers included Sam Thiara from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University; Minister of Advanced Education Amrik Virk from the Liberal Party of British Columbia; Kal Dosanjh from the Vancouver Police Department; Manny Padda who is the Managing Director for PM Search Partners. Funds made through the SOAR Banquet will be given out as scholarship funds to students graduating high school.
Apart from SOAR, while attending Simon Fraser University I stayed actively involved within my community and along with federal, provincial, and youth politics. I respect everyone’s political views, but I always believed that today’s youth must be involved within politics as well. Today’s youth is tomorrow’s future. This means they must be aware of what is going on in our world. Having a strong focus within politics resulted me being the youngest Vice President for the Simon Fraser University B.C. Young Liberals. We work along at Simon Fraser University promoting the positive vision of the B.C. Liberals.
Serving on various executive positions such as, President and CEO of SOAR Philanthropic Society, Vice President of First United Volunteer, and Vice President of SFU B.C. Young Liberals shows how much a 19-year-old student can achieve in life, if they are determined to become whom they wish to be defined as. There are times in life where people are thinking of giving up, but then I ask them “why did you start?” Achieving any aspect in life is not any easy task, but you have to put in the countless hours of hard dedication to see yourself where you wish to be. After balancing my schedule with academics, along with heavy community involvement for various causes I received the Top 25 Under 25 award as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. I always see myself as a normal person who just wishes to do what he wants to do. In life there are two types of people: one who wait for an opportunity of success to come to them and the other who are determined to seize success at all costs. The ones that seize success and not wait for some magical to happen are the biggest and most successful people we see today, such as the big CEOs, well known lawyers, respected doctors, and many other great people. After finishing my bachelors’ degree I will be attending law school to become a corporate lawyer. Later on my biggest career goal will be becoming Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA). I wish not only to serve as a politician, but as a role model and leader for my community that has given me so much. If I know I can achieve so much in life and be the person that I want to be, anyone can do the same. I encourage everyone, especially our young generation to hold on tight to their big dreams because if they work hard in life, those dreams of theirs would eventually one day become reality.
