early days

Born in Singapore, I lived the expat kid life the first 12 years of my life. At 12, when my dad branched out to run his own business in Sri Lanka, he sent me to continue my education in Pakistan, where our family roots were. Almost two years later my family joined me in Pakistan once my dad moved his business there. After I finished high school, I came to Canada as an international student for university - and much to my mother’s dismay, never went back home.

work life

As an international student in 2002 I had limited options for part-time work - I was only allowed to work on campus at the time. I was able to get a job at the university’s Advancement office as a telefundraiser. Yes, I was that person calling you and asking for money! After I graduated, I got what was called a Post-graduate Work Permit to gain Canadian employment experience. At the time, these permits were a one-year, one-time deal.

With this permit, I landed a job fundraising in Corporate Sponsorship at The National Ballet of Canada, because fundraising is all I knew. Since then, I had the privilege of working in the areas of addictions treatment, hospital health care, at the Toronto International Film Festival, RBC, and now at Humber College.

Each organization I’ve worked at helped me grow professionally and personally; each workplace became home and colleagues became family when I had none in Canada. Somewhere along the way, I became a permanent resident of Canada and eventually a citizen. It was a long hustle, but I’m proud to be Canadian today and grateful for the communities I found everywhere I went.

teaching

dance, dance, dance!

In 2019 I started teaching as a part-time professor at Humber College. This was a dream come true for me! Now I’ve made this a full-time pursuit. Possibly the most fulfilling part is feedback from the students like this:

“This particular course was one of the best courses I did so far! My professor always made sure that we are active so she always used to have some class activities which was related to our course content so it was fun to do it and it was a myriad learning for me!”

When I moved to Toronto in 2005, I started taking salsa dancing lessons as a way to meet new people. I loved it! The dance floor would become my haven, my outlet, a saviour. I continued taking classes for years, then started teaching Salsa, Bachata, and Bollywood. I even joined a performance team and traveled to perform with the best dance family one could ask for!

Dance allowed me to show off the entertainer inside me, shut off my brain, give myself up to the music, and form meaningful and lifelong relationships. To dance, I will forever be grateful.