鈥淵ou have to own every opportunity and nothing comes with luck. You have to make your own luck,鈥� says聽Amrit Pal Singh.
Amrit has spent the past four years 鈥榤aking鈥� his luck.聽 鈥楳aking鈥� it meant most weeks he was working 80-plus hours between paid employment and classes and course work for his Bachelor of Commerce Co-op degree. But it鈥檚 paid off. Amrit is one of eight students in Atlantic Canada to win the Frank. H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies, for which he will receive $45,000.
When聽Amrit arrived in Halifax to study in the Faculty of Management, it wasn鈥檛 the award he was after. He just knew that if he didn鈥檛 earn enough money to pay for tuition and living expenses, he鈥檇 have to return to India. And since he鈥檇 already taken the risk to come here, he was going to do everything he could to make it work.
鈥淭here is always one person in the family who has to take the risk and move out of their comfort zone and play the odds,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat's the worst that鈥檚 going to happen?鈥澛�
鈥淵ou nuture kids and you see your dream in them.鈥�
The middle child in a family that farms and runs a business, Amrit helped his father grow wheat and rice as well as expand an air-conditioning business. He started university in India before deciding to go overseas. Three universities caught his attention, but it was Dal鈥檚 reputation, the City of Halifax and the mandatory co-op that helped him decide.
He embraced life in Canada and a culture he didn鈥檛 know. With English as his fourth language 鈥攈is mother tongue is Punjabi, then he learned Hindi and his provincial language Haryanvi 鈥� he first got involved in the 最新杏吧原创 Sikh Student鈥檚 Association, the Maritime Sikh Society, the International Centre, and served as a student leader in residence. In his first six months, he also worked 10 jobs until he found one that was right and paid him appropriately. He got to know his professors, attended networking events, and worked hard in his co-op positions, even volunteering to coach a kid鈥檚 baseball team when he worked at McCain Foods in Florenceville, N.B.聽
Amrit, who competed as an athlete at a national level in India, attributes some of his success to sports.
鈥淚 think that sports has shaped my life.," he says. "You get to work with people, you get to collaborate and work as a team to get on top.
鈥淲hen you give back to the community, I think you nurture the kids, and you see your dream in them.鈥�
It motivates and validates you
Despite the long hours and work that Singh has put in, he didn鈥檛 quite believe the good news when it arrived. He says he stared at the email for three minutes after which he says he 鈥淚 asked my friend to read it for me.鈥�
Business students in Atlantic Canada have received $3 million from the award since it launched in 1989.聽 In addition to the eight awards of $45,000 each, finalists receive $3,500. This year, 最新杏吧原创 has two of those finalists: Rachel Brannan and Reefah Shehnaz.
Both Reefah and Amrit agree that the award is not just about their personal achievements.
鈥淚t represents the support I鈥檝e received from my professors, mentors, and peers at 最新杏吧原创, says Reefah, adding that it "serves as a source of motivation, validating my efforts and giving me the confidence to continuing pursuing my goals.鈥�
While Amrit is interested in taking a job with a company and is currently doing interviews, Rachel wants to start pursuing her dream of building a sustainable fashion business.