By Samina Nayla
When I was very young, my father died. We were three siblings, my Ma has only 1 daughter & two sons. We were learning slowly & gradually things were not in our control. We were accepting the risks & moving forward. Our conscious & sensitive selves always knew, we would not fail as we chose the path of supporting each other & listened to our Ma.
Things were changing fast; we crossed the border of our small country Bangladesh & moved to different places. My elder brother went to USA for studying Engineering, I studied English Language Teaching in England, my younger brother studied Engineering, later went to Latin America for a job. Tension was there, uncertainties were not very new to us.
Tension loomed over us as uncertainties crept into our lives. We took each decision with extreme care, while maintaining daily conversations with our mother. She reassured us that change was on the horizon, promising brighter days ahead. She firmly believed that our current challenges would ultimately lead to a positive transformation because the efforts of honest people never get wasted. This is the natural rule of the world. And it is true.
When I came to Canada in 2011, I understood this is a land of opportunities for those people who are willing to give & be grateful to every individual who is opening pathways for others. Over the course of my life, I’ve come to understand that whether I’m unique or similar to others, I can effect positive change in my environment by embracing my vulnerabilities, limitations, and uncertainties. The key lies in transforming my vulnerabilities into strengths.
When I studied at York University & completed my post-graduation program in Counselling from George Brown College in Toronto, I started giving the same message to all of my clients: whatever you have, make it a strength, think positively and be willing to be supportive to others no matter what gender, what class, what race or religion they belong to .
I had clients from various backgrounds, for example, single mother, people with criminal back grounds, IT professionals, people with disabilities and many more. I saw people with physical barriers in IT working in the field, single mothers coming from war-ridden countries got jobs of receptionists or in the administrative field, women with disabilities after developing skills worked as community workers.
I remember an elderly senior citizen, immigrant man got a job as a cabinetmaker. His warm and friendly smile remains intact in my memory. Even after I referred him to my colleague for additional assistance at my previous workplace, he continued to approach me regularly, greeting me with an impressive “Hi, Samina.”
Once I had a client who held a master’s degree in Urban Design from the University of Toronto. She had been working in Project Management for two years but experienced a setback when she was laid off due to contracting a rare virus, resulting in partial memory loss. After a few years, with the help of appropriate medical treatment, she made a full recovery and was able to regain her previous managerial position in her job.
So, the lesson is miracles are happening every day, just you need to have strength to overcome uncertain times and be hopeful. I have invented a HAP formula for this:
- Remain Hopeful when you do not have a job,
- be Actively involved in job search and tailor your resume to align with the requirements of the job posting
- & Prepare for the job interviews.
I always believe & have my experience in it too: Hope, actively engaging in the Job search process , & thorough preparation (HAP) can bring you closer to your dream job! 😊
