People

Sikh-Canadian To Join 82 Other 2012 Rhodes Scholars Worldwide:
Sheiry Kaur Dhillon

by ROGER BELGRAVE

 

 

 

A Sikh-Canadian graduate from the Brampton Centennial Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, has earned one of the world’s most highly regarded scholarships and will study at England’s Oxford University next year.

Sheiry Kaur Dhillon is one of just 11 Canadians selected to receive a Rhodes Scholarship in 2012. Just 83 students from around the globe are selected each year for what many consider the oldest and most prestigious international graduate scholarship program in the world. She will be joining an elite club that includes former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Legal Philosopher Ronald Dworkin.

Sheiry is currently a fourth-year student at Hamilton’s McMaster University in the global health program. Being named a Rhodes Scholar has the 21-year-old suspended in two worlds - living a reality and dream.

“Theoretically I know how incredible this opportunity is and I’m so excited for it, but at the same time it’s so surreal because this isn’t something that you ever put on your radar or you ever think that is ever going to happen to you,” she admitted.

After graduating high school, she was thinking about studying business and science at University of Western Ontario. But she changed course and ended up at McMaster in health sciences.

“I wanted a profession or a field of work that is going to be universal and applicable across any setting in the world and I thought health care and health sciences was the most appropriate and that’s why I ended up going into the health sciences program at McMaster,” she explained.

The teenager who travelled to Uganda to work with underprivileged children, helped start a school breakfast program and co-founded a foundation to aid tsunami victims and raise money for an orphanage in India describes herself today as “a bit” of humanitarian. She desired an academic and professional path that allowed her to pursue human rights work and global health projects.

During her tenure at McMaster, Sheiry has interned with the Canadian Centre for International Justice and Nobel Women’s Initiative, spent some time in northern India working with a non-governmental organization conducting a primary health research project and developing a women’s health component for the university’s global health program.

She recently returned from South America, where she has been helping evaluate a trauma program in Guyana that may be implemented in other countries.

An academic standout with impressive leadership skills, she has always wanted to be a difference-maker. Sheiry said health care is one of the resources often lacking in low and middle income countries. She believes she can play a role in changing that situation.

She expects studying at one of the world’s preeminent learning institutions will be an enriching and stimulating experience.
“The thing that I’m most excited about is being a part of a larger community of individuals that are dedicated to making a difference in the world,” Sheiry remarked.

An opportunity to pursue her research at the world-class educational facility is also exhilarating. She is considering pursuing a masters of science in global health or the equivalent of a Ph.D. in public health.

Depending on which academic direction she chooses, the Rhodes Scholarship will provide two to three years funding ranging from $100,000 to $150,000.

Sheiry credits the Brampton community and her family for a lot of her success to date. Supporters at Brampton Centennial, who nurtured and helped her blossom academically and personally, were some of the first people she called after learning about the scholarship.

Mother Jasvir Kaur, father Manjeet Singh, sister Robin Kaur and brother Harman Singh also share in this honour, she made a point of noting.

“My family has been such an important part in every step of the way and everything that I’ve ever done,” she said. “I always have to thank them because they’ve also invested so much time, so much effort allowing me to do these things and follow these opportunities and some of my dreams.”

Sheiry and the other Canadian scholars are scheduled to leave for the United Kingdom and begin at Oxford in September. 

 

[Courtesy: Brampton Guardian. Edited for sikhchic.com]

December 22, 2011

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