We all know about the big Canadian dream in the eyes of many Indians but what we do forget is the struggle behind fulfilling that dream. The story we bring you forth this week is of one such young lad, Harman Singh Manocha,(Btech in IT from GTBIT, IP University) whose efforts are real and relatable.
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Harman is a highly motivated, smart and intelligent student who never dreamt of moving to Canada. Still, his father was highly motivated to send him abroad for further studies. It was not until the third year when Harman finally decided to own his father’s dream.
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“Shortly after the third year, I started shortlisting various universities in Canada, and my friends who were already living abroad helped and advised me frequently on the same. My first advice to all the students planning to study overseas, please work on your grades, because when I kicked in to grade up, the stakes were high as I already lost marks in the first two years of Btech.
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I wrote IELTS in the fourth year of Engineering. You won’t believe this. I forgot the test date and had a mini heart attack when I got to know the exam time via an email reminder on the exam day itself. However, still, thankfully, I managed to reach the examination centre on time. Later, I cleared the exam with a pretty decent score and in my final year started applying at institutions in Canada. I had shortlisted a few universities and colleges including Concordia University, Université de Montréal, Concordia University of Edmonton, Lambton College, Georgian College and University of the Fraser Valley for four courses which were:
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- Cyber Security
- Cloud Computing for Big Data Analytics
- Information Systems Security (MEng)
- Data Analysis
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Out of all these, I finally chose to pursue a Post-baccalaureate in Data Analysis at the University of Fraser Valley, British Columbia. The course structure is divided into four parts which are Data Extraction, Data Loading, Data Crunching, and Analysis. (Majorly focuses on Data reporting and Statistical reasoning). The course is highly practical with immediate implications in real scenarios, and interestingly, the course is in high demand and worth 1045 Billion Canadian Dollars.
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I landed up in Canada on the 15th June 2019 and soon became a patient of smallpox, and by 17th evening the sickness was significant. My luck didn’t shine bright on arrival as I hadn’t availed the health insurance while leaving for Canada and ended up spending $100 CAD per visit to the doctor. I would highly recommend the students planning to move to Canada to get travel health insurance before leaving the country, especially for the ones not taking a direct flight to Canada. Also, this did not end here. On arrival, I already had an Airbnb accommodation booked wherein I fell victim to ill-treatment for being sick. The host’s behaviour wasn’t comforting, so I planned to leave in the middle of the night and a day before my length of stay at Airbnb. Imagine being in a foreign land where you do not know people and get ill-treated. It is a horrible feeling. Later, luckily, I found accommodation quickly befriending a student of the same university and sheltered myself to experience the less stressed upcoming Canadian mornings.
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I hardly have attended the walk-in classes at the university for about six months. Since last December I’ve been taking online classes earlier due to heavy snowfall and later due to COVID-19 outbreak. I miss walking to the university, and I am pleased finding friends like family here in Canada. Also, now, I’m fully equipped to deal with whatever comes my way. I am even trying to ace my scores, to challenge my brain with what’s new and adapt to the lovely weather of Canada. I miss home a lot, ‘Meri Delhi’
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immensely. No place in the world can ever have food like in Delhi.
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My one advice to you all would be try and be self-reliant financially. Canada has a lot to offer in terms of job opportunities. Yes, the pandemic has affected the job market a bit, but it’s not too bad. Also, one important tip for all my Sikh friends planning to study or work in Canada, please carry spare Baaj, Beard and Hair accessories if you use any, to groom yourselves as you won’t find time to get this stuff here initially”.
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