Achal Bhatt

I grew up in a small town of Baroda in the state of Gujarat, which is located on the west coast of India. My sister and I had a farily smooth childhood as we grew up in a upper middle class family. Unlike many other kids, while growing up, I did not have a clear ambition or even a vision as to what I want to do as a career. However, I did see my father go to work tirelessly week over week, years over years. His job involved a lot of traveling and so we would only see him once a week (twice if were lucky). Even though my vision was blurry on career, I was certain of one thing 'decent, if not good, education is almost a must'. Somehow I managed to grow my keen interest in life/health sciences towards the later portion of school years, and so I decided to pursue my higher education in that field, and went to a pharmacy college in India. In my third year of college, I get a call from my father stating that we are migrating to Canada. This came in as a surprise, shock and excitement. There were so many mixed feelings about this move as one can only imagine a 21 year old, who practically has no say in this decision, mainly due to cultural norms. Next thing I know I had to leave my home, my friends and my dreams, and I am in a flight to Canada. My family struggled in the beginning years as it was not only a cultural shock but also an emotional roller coaster for us. I left behind the idea of continuing my college, and started working at Tim Hortons soon after our arrival just so that we can survive. I made $6.75 an hour, and to do so, I had to wake up at 3 am everyday, and take 3 buses to get to work. I did that for a few years until my family was completely settled, and I felt comfortable to even think about higher education. During these years, I learned a lot about the society, culture and most importantly the opportunities one can have 'if' there is an ambition. The journey from tim hortons till now has been an interesting one for me. I came across many hurdles, plenty of unforeseen challenges, unexpected failures and some gruesome times. I still remember those days when the only bed I had was my car, the only meal for the day I had was a sandwich, and the only person I could talk to was myself, and a lot of this was because of the awful and abusive relationship I was in at that time. However, I did not give up, and I refused to give up. I knew that if I stayed strong, it will pass, and it did as one day I decided to walk out of that toxic environment and start my life all over again, and I am so thankful that I made that choice. Like a lot of us (if not most), I can relate these struggles to only be a stronger person and I would say that if you can get any sort of help, get it and say 'thank you' to that person, people, entity, organization, whatever it might be. I say that because I know I did not have much of it. I had not met my wife at that time, I did not want to put my parents under any pressure, and I was not enrolled in any school to see a counsellor. All these instances only made me stronger in life, and I believe that if one has the 'will' to do it, no one can stop them at any point. I wanted to challenge myself, and so I decided to pursue medicine as a career choice. With the past college credits from India and a few bridging courses, I was fortunate enough to get accepted and completed my education. During my third year of medical college I met this girl who stood out to me. In complete honesty she looked like a 'geek' but she was very calm, down to earth, non-egoistic, a very easy going person, and undoubtedly the most beautiful. We had a lot in common; we were both food junkies, loved to travel, football, and the most weird one (backstreet boys). My life took a turn where none of us imagined that we would be together, and here we are happily married for 6+ years. We were fortunate enough to publish a few peer reviewed articles, mainly in the field of Psychiatry (mental health). While she has decided to pursue clinical side of medicine in the field of psychiatry, I have decided to be on the academic side where I want to oversee various therapeutic areas, their side effects and work towards providing a better life style for the patients. I would say that without her support, I would not have been able to pursue this next step of my dream of getting my MBA. I must say I am very very fortunate to be a part of ENMU's MBA program and I am truly grateful to get this higher education. Again, unlike many of my peers at ENMU who may have a very set goal of working at a firm or an organization in a particular field after graduation, I am not 100% sure where I want to be, however, I do know that I want to take this knowledge, apply it, and possibly make a difference wherever I go. I am probably one of the most uncertain people who loves ambiguity, and there are a few things I truly believe in: The quote: 'arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached'. The message: I am never afraid to ask and never hesitant to help. The goal: I want to work as a servant, and retire as a king.