The Sullivan Heights Dental scholarship is awarded to a local Surrey graduating student who has strong grades in sciences and will be pursuing a post-secondary education. Each recipient receives $500 and is chosen by their school.

Meet Harnoor Garcha, one of this year’s recipients of Sullivan Heights Dental Scholarship! We have two scholarships, one for each of our local high schools. Harnoor graduated in June from Sullivan Heights Secondary.

Harnoor provided us with a profile to post on social media, and we’d love to share it with you here as well. She writes:

Throughout high school, I was an active member of my school’s Med Hopeful’s Club and eventually became the social media manager. . .I also took some time to volunteer at a local dental clinic to gain valuable skills and experience working in a healthcare setting. Lastly, I did spend a lot of my time volunteering at school as I was a part of the leadership class and spent time volunteering either before school or after school. My favourite events I volunteered for recently included the Turkey Syria pizza fundraiser, grade 7 tour days and spirit assembly.

This fall, I will be attending post-secondary to study under the faculty of sciences. Currently, I plan to either major in biology or biochemistry as I have a strong passion for pharmaceuticals. To pursue my passion and learn about all sorts of different medications, I hope to attend pharmacy school and become a pharmacist. I hope to either work as a specialized clinical pharmacist or for a large Biopharmaceutical company like AstraZeneca.

This scholarship from Sullivan Heights Dental Clinic will help me get started in studying what I enjoy the most this fall and I am very grateful for being one of the recipients. I hope to use it to its fullest potential to help me get started on working towards my goals.

Dr. Himmat Bajwa had a chance to chat with her about high school and her post-secondary plans when she visited our dental office this summer.

Interview is edited for brevity.

How would you describe your overall high school experience at Panorama Ridge?

I think it was pretty great. . .I went to a different school in grade 8. But I think throughout the last four years from grade 9 to 12, Panorama really provided me with a very encouraging school spirit. Also after I went to Panorama, I noticed everyone around me was doing very well academically and I wasn’t (when) going into high school. But seeing how everyone around me kind of worked, I became very academically inclined to do really good at all my classes and find extracurriculars.

Did you feel a big difference between the two schools?

Yeah. Academically, I think, because I was new I wanted to do something. . . I’m pretty happy with the outcome. I think maybe if I would have stayed there it would have been different.

What was your favorite subject in school?

I would say definitely—because we’re talking about the sciences, I definitely loved biology. . . and chemistry.  The content was very intriguing for me.

That was actually my favorite subject in school – chemistry – so I can relate. I like biology and chemistry. And I initially was a chemistry major in university, but I switched to biology.

When I did the homework it didn’t really feel like homework. I didn’t mind it, compared to math. I don’t really like math.

Did you have any influential teachers at Panorama Ridge?

Yeah. I think Miss Dhaliwal because she’s just one of the most positive teachers at our school. Anytime you meet her, her attitude really shows that she’s not like the other teachers.

What did she teach?

She taught English. . . her energy is really positive. . . she helped me through the process of applying for a $44,000 dollar scholarship. Which I did end up getting, I know you’re probably going to ask!

Congratulations, that’s amazing! So you’ve had a pretty successful year. That’s a great achievement, your family must be really proud of you.

Yeah, I have a single mom and she’s proud.

Do you have any siblings?

Yeah, I have a younger brother who’s 13. . . He’s starting high school in the fall.

Tell me about the activities you pursued at school.

I was in a couple of extracurriculars, but my main one was the social media manager of our school’s Med Hopeful Club…during the pandemic people didn’t have access to volunteer opportunities . . I would go on social media and find opportunities because a lot of organizations would do virtual activities where they could shadow doctors, dentists, and optometrists.

Another thing that I did outside, I took the last two summers and volunteered at a local dental clinic. . . I did a lot of sterilization, I shadowed. I remember the first appointment was a root canal and I watched someone go through that treatment. I think during the pandemic I was helping other people get volunteer opportunities but I knew I wanted hands-on experience actually in the clinic. So I just took the initiative and emailed a bunch of places and they were like, “Okay come in.”

What will you miss the most from school?

The friend group because they’re all going to different schools. I think it’s kind of sad to let go of people that you’ve known for so long. Not seeing them on a daily basis.

What are your plans for continuing education?

In the fall I’m actually starting out in a smaller school, that was some advice I got from my aunt, so I’ll be going to UFV in Abbotsford. University of Fraser Valley. I’ll be attending that school in the Faculty of Sciences. As of right now I’ll be fulfilling the requirements for Pharmacy School and then applying.

Do you have a career goal in mind?

As of right now I’m thinking of becoming a pharmacist, but I see myself doing clinical pharmacy so either a residency after graduation or working for a big biopharmaceutical company like Astrazeneca or Pfizer.

Any plans for you in the summer?

I think just more spontaneous things. I don’t remember the last time I’ve had this much free time. Like I mentioned, the whole (scholarship) application process took from December to spring break. I just finished in May, and over the past two summers I’ve done summer school so I’m really looking forward to not doing anything.

 

A big congratulations to Harnoor!