By: Nguyen “Catarina” Phuong Khanh Pham
I love writing because I am the kind of person who is not good at sharing my stories through talking. But as I started to write this, I really didn’t know where my story should begin.
June 15th, 2022, it’s almost one year since the first day I came to Canada. And I have to say, never before in my life have I seen my remarkable growth like I do right now. I still remember when I first came here, I could not even order myself breakfast in Tim Hortons and struggled to ask for directions. At school, I consecutively got rejection emails for job positions I had recently been interviewed. At that time, I desperately questioned myself “Is this actually the dream that I’ve been chasing for several years?”, “Do I really belong to this world?”. And yes, I bombarded myself with these negative questions for a period of time. I went to school, attended class, and left. No friends, no networking, no nights out, no job, I just studied and stayed at home.
Until one day, I feel like I was wasting my study abroad journey. I felt like I was wasting my youth, and I needed to do something to change my life. However, at that time, my thoughts were so abstract! “Where should I start to change?”, “What I should change?”, “How can I do that?”. I decided to set a goal for myself even though I had no idea whether I could achieve it or not: “I want to be a Tutor at Sheridan”. And I have to say this commitment somehow changed my life in Canada completely. To achieve that goal, I began to study day and night because I wanted to get an excellent academic transcript. But I felt like i’s still was not enough. I still needed more experiences at Sheridan. I need to be more involved in the Sheridan community so I started to participate in many extra-curricular programs such as Global Connection, Lead and Lunch and the Leadership Bridge program. Through these programs, I’ve met so many people, though it’s just virtual, we got to have so much fun together. Even now that the programs have ended, I still keep in touch with several participants, which I feel so much gratitude for.
On the journey of being involved in Sheridan, I got an opportunity to be a Board member of Sheridan Student Union (SSU), a thing that I could have never imagined before. First time in my life, I decided to nominate myself for a leading position. First time in my life, I stood up in front of the class and introduced myself for my campaign. I still remember how insanely nervous I was, but I know that was another moment of me getting out of my comfort zone.
And today, after one year at Sheridan, I am so proud to say that I got grades I really didn’t think I could get. My dream also came true: I finally became a tutor at Sheridan, but it’s not just about that. From a person who was struggling with ordering breakfast at Tim Hortons to now being able to host a virtual session as a Virtual Connector and conduct a 1-on-1 meeting with my students as a tutor, I’m so proud. But I know that, without the consistent support from people around me, I couldn’t have been who I am today. And I know there are still so many things I have to learn and practice on this journey.
If I could give you a piece of advice, it would definitely be “Set yourself a goal, it may be just an abstract thought and consistently work toward it. Because that goal will keep you on the right path and lead you to the position you want in the future.”
In a time of incredible change, we all experienced a monumental shift together. Following a global pandemic, the transition from online schooling into our new college life, members of the Sheridan community have become chameleons to welcoming change into their daily routines.
But not every situation starts and ends so easily. There are hardships, challenges and struggles that we experience to come out successfully on the other side. In this blog series, students, Sheridan Alumni, and members of our Sheridan community will share their stories of resilience and how they were able to overcome these obstacles.
We are proud to call this series #SherYourStory.
If you wish to be a part of it, you can submit your stories either publicly or anonymously here.
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“I was just another international student coming to Canada from Punjab with huge dreams and little experience. It hasn’t been all fun and games coming from my hometown, but you know what they say, “Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations.” Indeed, it became true.”