Road to Possible - Sneha Paul (Artificial Intelligence)

Best Christmas and New Years Gift – by Sneha Paul

Christmas is the season of gifts from Santa. Like a kid, I really hoped this Christmas I would get what I wished for. Well, it’s easy to make out that Santa sent me a special gift.

After graduation, it had been really tough searching for a job related to my field. Applying to almost all job sites, actually crazily applying to any job that was even a little related. Finally, when Advent began, I really wished that I would have a job by Christmas. A belief that I will get a job by Christmas time motivated me to work hard through the applications. I got a few interview opportunities, and every time I tried learning from my mistakes. Finally, during the Christmas week, I got a call for the second round of interviews, and finally on Dec 24th, I got a call saying that the company was ready to offer me an opportunity.

I was overwhelmed, cause the opportunity has opened a whole new learning door. Most importantly, they seemed to trust a Health Informatics graduate to deal with Finance, with the little software development knowledge that I had. Their belief has helped me gain more confidence in myself.

Today I have an opportunity that I wished for and special member to support me through. I wouldn’t have gotten through the application and interview process without a lot of people, above all definitely my family and my friends.

The Path Taken – by Sneha Paul

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

So correctly said by the Alchemist, the universe really conspires in helping you, and I truly felt and experienced it, so did Lesley, as she accompanied me to a short “Dream quest” trip.

As a Health Informatics graduate, I am still in search for different ways to get to my dreams, not forgetting that I need to find my job too. Montreal was my first destination for my Dream quest search, as I dream of studying in McGill University aiming to become a researcher. With the hope of finding out the best for me, Lesley and I left for Montreal.

Montreal was a very welcoming place. Above all, it is the first place that I visited in Canada, and astonishingly the place that helped me find answers for my dreams too. I left Toronto with the confidence that I was going to take a part-time course in McGill so that I could pursue my PhD further. Later, at night I met one of the administrative heads at McMaster University, who was sent like an angel to me, who guided me through the rules for immigrants and the need to pursue my job search.

My return to Toronto was not with the admission in McGill but with a lot of positive and better guidance of what I should do next. Every step that I move further confidently in achieving my dream, there is someone who comes as a gift to guide me along. Cheers to the trip, and special thanks to Lesley and Ed too.

Regards,

Sneha Paul

Our Montreal Adventure – by Lesley Apelbaum

A few months ago, Sneha asked me to go to Montreal with her. So we went last weekend and had a great time. After 20 minutes on Montreal’s sidewalks, Sneha turns to me and says “I think I want to move here!”

She loves the city, especially Old Montreal, the churches, European-style architecture… And the coffee, croissants and bagels! Sneha tells me it’s the first time since moving from India that she feels like she’s in a completely different place.

We explored the different neighbourhoods, marvelling at the people, statues and buildings. She took me inside one of the churches on Rue St Catherine. It was a magical moment escaping the downtown hustle, taking in the beauty and tranquillity of an old cathedral. We kneeled at the pew and prayed. I insisted on bringing her to a good Jewish deli. We found one downtown and shared smoked brisket sandwich with horseradish. I taught her a bit of French along the way, translating the street signs and teaching her basic conversational phrases.

Sneha wants to pursue her PhD at McGill University, so we checked out the campus together. However, if she wants to continue pursuing her ambitions in Canada, she needs to get permanent resident status. Enrolling in school can definitely help with this… But by the end of our trip Sneha was resolved that she must find full-time employment in her field. This will help her get permanent resident status and save up for McGill at the same time.

I’m happy Sneha had fun and got clarity on what she needs to do. We returned to Toronto feeling more grounded and energized than before. Missing La Belle Province today… But I hope we’ll be back soon!

Dream Found – by Sneha Paul

“Work is worship” quote by Swami Vivekananda, is what I thought was true, but then I realized there is more to it. Enjoying your work becomes worship when you love doing it. Somewhere in the process of pursuing my education I closely understood my dream and that it is this small dream that I need to follow.

My dream, was just not to achieve a degree or a post in a company, but something to give back to the community that helped me grow. I worked for an Open Source Drug Discovery group, that have millions of students and researchers working on better Healthcare to All. This group not only does research on drugs and disease but is aiming to provide safer drugs at a very low cost. One of the Principal Investigators, Prof, Dr. Jaleel UC, helped me to dream and look beyond all the benefits money could bring from research. He taught me that our education, our work can save maybe millions of lives suffering from Tuberculosis, Malaria and other diseases. The only drawback to change was the need to voice the situation. At many times research experience is the only way that helps in bringing a change to such a community. His support has helped me to step further ahead – and take up Health Informatics course in Centennial College. I definitely aim to pursue the small-seeded dream.

“Road to Possible” has helped me boost up my passion. Thanks to Lesley and Edward that I got a chance to express my dreams. I also received a strong moral support from many people involved and participating in “Road to Possible” and am really thankful to all. I hope to achieve what I dream of.

And to all those who feel that their dream is not as passionate as someone else let me remind you of what Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Keep dreaming .. Keep Achieving 😛 🙂