After graduating from secondary school, most teenagers plan to kick up their heels and enjoy a lazy summer. However, this is not the case for Sukhmeet Singh Sachal who is embarking on trips to Ghana and India to give back to those less fortunate.
This 2012 class valedictorian, selected by students to represent Tamanawis Secondary at their commencement ceremony, has been involved with community and charity work since he was a child. Growing up in Amritsar, India, Sukhmeet’s father exposed him to how different people lived when he was just four-years-old taking him to Pingalwara, formally known as the “All India Pingalwara Charitable Society,” a safe haven for sick, disabled, abandoned or mentally-ill children and seniors.
“I was distraught by how much people suffer. Ever since then, every single year, I decided to go back to Pingalwara and give gifts each year on my birthday from my own pocket money. I would go to market beforehand and select different items for goody bags for each person there,” says Sukhmeet.
Starting off with one small gesture of compassion has led to further endeavours, such as joining the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, a national youth program that involves volunteerism and fundraising for the less fortunate; Sukhmeet was one of two male students to be members of the Empowerment Club that strived to assist women who face domestic violence by raising $3,000 in two years, which was given to women’s shelters; and he served on student council and created his own club – Students Without Borders (SAB) – to encourage students to get involved through volunteering in the local and global communities.
“Sukhmeet has been involved with humanitarian causes since he was a child, giving gifts every year to underprivileged children in India. I believe this is what feeds his drive and passion to help others; to join organizations which give back to people and the community; and to create Students Without Borders,” says Teacher Mari Warrior, staff sponsor for SAB at Tamanawis, who ensures the club adheres to school policies and provides moral support/guidance to students.
“However necessary my role is, Sukhmeet is the driving force behind the club and what it has achieved so far. As he is going to McGill University in the fall, he has committed to starting Students Without Borders there,” she adds.
Sukhmeet created SAB in September 2011, and got his fellow students to join with the goal to raise $5,000 by the end of June 2012 to build a well in Kenya. With the catastrophic draughts in Kenya and other African nations, individuals do not have access to clean water. The club partnered with Free the Children, an organization that empowers youths around the world to make a difference, and through several fundraising events, including a large-scale event with over 250 people in April, SAB raised $7,200.
Furthermore, during the fundraising event, the local community was exposed to dancers from Kenya and Ethiopia in an effort to create a greater awareness and global consciousness. “We could’ve easily chosen India to help because there are also droughts happening in South India, which are severe. But we wanted to do something where our community can realize that there are problems outside India, so we wanted to expose the South Asian community to problems in other places, such as Kenya,” adds Sukhmeet, who has volunteered 500 hours with SAB.
He goes on to say “I just think if you’re committed to doing something, you just follow it and that’s how I’ve always been ever since I was little – if I’m driven to do something, I do it.”
This 17-year-old has already accomplished a long list of achievements from participating in a range of diverse clubs and organizations to receiving numerous awards recognizing his community service, leadership skills and fundraising efforts. However this is just the beginning for Sukhmeet who has a larger picture in mind with a long-term goal to become a physician and specialize in cardiology, neurosurgery or pediatrics fields.
Maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout high school, while even taking AP (advanced placement) courses in Grade 12, Sukhmeet is making this goal a reality as he was accepted to seven of the best universities in Canada, and he chose to pursue his Bachelors of Science at McGill University in Montreal. In addition, he hopes to one day join Doctors Without Borders as he “loves helping people, and this organization travels around the world helping people who don’t have adequate medical care. I also want to assist during national disasters.”
This summer, Sukhmeet is travelling to Ghana through the organization ‘You Volunteer,’ where he will be assisting in local hospitals for a few weeks. After Ghana, he is travelling to India to not only visit family and friends, but to revisit Pingalwara, where he is going to stay for two weeks and assist the children and seniors.
Sukhmeet was recently awarded the Better Business Bureau’s Student Ethics Award, a $2,250 scholarship recognizing his dedication, integrity and academic excellence. He also competed for the prestigious Loran Award, a national competitive scholarship, and out of 40 applicants in BC; Sukhmeet won the provincial title with a $2,000 scholarship. To name a few, The Canadian Red Cross, Indo-Canadian Business Association and City of Surrey have all bestowed awards to Sukhmeet.
Besides being a brain and having a big heart, Sukhmeet is a well-rounded individual who plays sports, including rugby; he is creative and enjoys to draw; loves to fly planes like Cessna’s, a skill he acquired as an air cadet; and likes to engage in extreme sports from hang gliding to bungee jumping.
Above all, Sukhmeet is grateful to his father Harpreet, mother Sandeep and brother Abhayjeet. They “are so supportive of everything I have done, they inspire me to take action – we all work together to ensure we grow,” he says. “My parents have taken action [they are involved in non-profit initiatives] and my 10-year-old brother plays the piano and hockey plus is the top student every year with amazing marks – he inspires me to be better, he looks at me as a role model but in fact, he is my role model.”
When asked what advice would he give to other students, he replied “You have to be true to yourself and never give up roots or where you came from because that will help you a long way. ‘Carpe Diem’ – seize the day, enjoy every moment and help out in your community, every action you take will make a difference, its cliché, but its true.”
Sukhmeet’s teacher Mari Warrior sums him up best by saying “Sukhmeet is a budding benevolent leader wise beyond his years, yet curious, energetic and infectiously positive. His actions are those of an older person, whose compassion for the less fortunate seems to drive him to utilize all his abilities and talents to help them. He does not take our abundant Canadian lifestyle for granted, typical of some youth his age. He is respectful, appreciative, sincere and humble, but moves with purpose to achieve his meaningful goals and overcome challenges.”
