guard.meCARES Connections

Coming to Canada as an international student when the pandemic restrictions were in full force is enough to deter some of the most strong-minded and ambitious women. But Jasmeet Kaur was able to take this situation and make it work for her while also giving back to her community.

After completing her Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Commerce degrees in India, she craved the experience of being an international student. This led to her enrolling for the Graduate Certificate in Supply Chain Management at Northern College campus in Scarborough, Ontario.

“It was my dream to study abroad,” said Jasmeet. “There is a lot of scope for supply chain management in North America and I wanted to come to Canada and get practical exposure in this field.”

The award-winning student volunteer from Punjab, India, arrived in Brampton, Ontario, in January 2021. She rented a room in a shared house and spent a lot of time in her room studying and attending online classes.

“Everything was closed or had limited capacity, but the College was so supportive and provided lots of resources for using their online platform. The professors have real life experience, which is one of the reasons I chose to study abroad at this school.”

Despite this, Jasmeet was mindful of becoming lonely and disconnected due to the social isolation and decided to take positive action to avoid this. She pledged to make the best use of her time and energy outside of her college work and began volunteering with the Sikh Initiative at her local gurdwara.

The Sikh Initiative is a Canadian non-profit organization that develops initiatives to create a strong network of people in the Sikh community. Jasmeet helped to staff the front desk at the gurdwara and helped with exhibitions and events. She liked volunteering so much that she started volunteering with the College on campus and, shortly afterwards, became a guard.meCARES Ambassador team leader. These opportunities allowed her to meet other international students.

“As a guard.meCARES Ambassador, you are a guide and support, so it’s a great program to help people and make friends. I now have more friends outside of my Sikh community, especially from the Philippines, China, and other parts of India.”

She says that making friends is something that comes naturally to her.

“I am a very honest, open and friendly person who doesn’t create barriers. You can call me anytime and I am there for you.”

To continue her successful run of volunteering, Jasmeet also helped on the 2022 Ontario general election, doing office work and distributing brochures. She completed her student internship at Universal Logistics Solutions in North York during her fourth semester, and worked with clients to coordinate the dispatch and delivery of goods from Canada to New York.

Following her graduation from Northern College in December 2022, she was presented with an award at her convocation ceremony for being the campus ambassador with the highest volunteer hours. She’s confident how she earned this award.

“I was always there for them, even when they called me the same day to work. It’s from my heart to help and see people happy, and I am very responsible.”

As the eldest of three children, Jasmeet is used to being the first to test the water. Last fall, her brother arrived in Canada to start his own journey as an international student, and the two siblings have been a great support to each other.

Since graduating, Jasmeet has been working in logistics at Toronto Pearson Airport and is looking to develop her career with new opportunities. For now, though, she will be content with taking a trip to Vancouver in the summer.