By Gary Thandi
Maansi Virk is an accomplished martial artist who has career aspirations to protect and serve. She aspires to follow in her father’s footsteps by becoming a police officer. Her father, Amrik Virk, was a former Inspector with the RCMP as well as a former Surrey MLA and provincial Cabinet Minister.
Born in Alberta, Maansi moved to South Surrey at the age of one. She is a graduate of Elgin Park Secondary. The nineteen-year-old has wanted to be an officer since she was 6-years old. She recalls hearing about some of her father’s work during her formative years and wishing to aspire to be just like him. “I wanted to support families, and ultimately bring those who break the law to justice. I want to do the same things my dad did.” Her entire family very much supports her career aspirations. “Both of my grandparents are very proud of me,” Maansi, a reserve in the Canadian military, confides. “I completed my Basic Military Qualifications in Chilliwack, living on the base for five weeks. Amongst the 55 who were there, only 7 were women.”
During her military training, she had to wake up every day at 4:30 in the morning. “We would learn tactical drills, and would be put under different types of stress so that they could see how we respond to such situations,” she recalls. Maansi looks forward to applying that training towards her future work in policing. Currently, she is in the Law Enforcement Studies program at the Justice Institute of British Columbia in New Westminster.
Maansi cites her father as one of her role models. “He is such a caring man, but he is also firm and tough. I want to be just like that.” She feels she connects to her father in that regard, while she connects with her mother “around most anything else.”
In her spare time, Maansi enjoys bonding time with her parents. “I love watching movies with my parents. They let me pick, and I usually pick comedies.”
She considers her friends “like a second family. They may not all live close by, but we continue to be close.”
Another of Maansi’s role models is her eldest sister, Jusleen. The latter 10x national champion, former North American champion, Pan American champion, 4x US Open vice champion and Pan American Games medalist. Maansi has also competed at the highest level; she is currently on the Canadian national team for karate. According to the Karate Canada website, “Karate Canada is a not-for-profit corporation … with the objective of describing and incorporating all activities related to the promotion, organization, regulation and popularization of the sport of karate all over Canada, of protecting the physical and emotional health of athletes, and of promoting the interests of karate throughout Canada.”
Maansi suggests anyone interested in challenging themselves consider joining martial arts. “Martial arts instills discipline, in addition to physical fitness. It also supports self-confidence.” She continues to train and hopes to one day stand on the podium at the World level in karate.
Maansi lives by this motto: “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” Og Mandino.
