Harmandeep Aulakh

Business Administration

Confidence shines in NorQuest’s newest student council member

It only stands to reason that Harmandeep Aulakh would have a calculated strategy for success.

The second year NorQuest College student is, after all, enrolled in the Business Administration (accounting) diploma program; numbers are kind of her thing.

Indeed, Aulakh has already self-audited her chances at achieving prominence in education and in life. What the 22-year-old discovered is that while being part of the rank and file is nothing to scoff at, it’s going to be a lot more fun to succeed from a place of leadership.

“In the ‘other’ world you have to be confident,” she says, referring to life after graduation. “If you are not, you will have a much harder time. There is so much competition out there, especially in this economy. You have to do what it takes to stand out.”

Her philosophy is a big commitment to extra-curricular and volunteer work. She is one of NorQuest’s seven newly-elected student council members, she sits on the student judiciary council, and she is in her first year as a member of the college’s RBC Ambassador Program.

“I have been volunteering a lot since I came to this country,” says the new Canadian who originally hails from India. “It started in junior high with sports teams, and a little bit in high school. Now that I am in college, I am continuing with that. It gives me confidence, and I get to know more people. I just love getting involved.”

Her drive is something many NorQuest students possess – to get noticed, to help make important decisions, and to be confident – and was in full display for the public recently at a NorQuest donor appreciation event. Aulakh and her ambassador teammates played an important role, as they always do: hosting, answering questions, and making introductions. There were a lot of important people there and it was her and a friend’s first-ever appearance as ambassadors. Aulakh was going to make the best of it.

“I had the confidence to go up to people and talk and my friend was, like, ‘what are you doing? You are going to embarrass yourself.’ I told her ‘don’t worry, just follow me.’ And we spoke to so many that day. In situations like that you just have to be confident, work hard and – who knows – maybe one day I will get an opportunity because of your confidence.”You have to do what it takes to stand out. I have been volunteering a lot since I came to this country. It gives me confidence, and I get to know more people. I just love getting involved.