I met Dhaivat, a 4th year biology major, while volunteering for Redpack a few weeks before school started. The earliest conversation that I remember having with him was trying to figure out how to correctly say his name whilst he tried to convince me to just settle for “David.” I am fortunate enough to have gotten many more chances to interact with him since then, as he is always present around campus. It is easy to make the claim that he is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. On top of that, he is a highly driven and dependable individual. This is obvious when you witness how committed he is to his campus life involvements.
An international student who came to Canada in 2011, Dhaivat joined the Indian Cultural Association club in his first year at York. He went on to become an associate, then director, and now the acting president for the club. “Growth within the club step by step was a learning experience.” In addition to ICA, he has also been a part of the following clubs: Art of Living, Music club, York Biology society(YUBS) and York Debating Society.
A little bit more about Dhaivat
Advice to the abundance of York students who currently attend this university and claim they hate it or consistently complain about having gotten ‘Yorked’: What’s the point of hating or keeping grudges against non living institution? To change the system, we need to be in the system. If we do not want [to take part in it], then participation as a community to exercise voting based on merit should be criticised as well. Personal perceptions should be voiced only AFTER they commit to our work via actions and take accountability. The work just speaks for itself any day.
Plans for the summer: Plans for summer is to look for growth in other aspects of my life. Travelling has always been one spontaneous tradition of my summer where I like to try and explore different places of interest and culture to re-energise myself intellectually and spiritually. I also want to do social work for children and mental health in summer.
Favourite spot to hang out on campus: Definitely the Student Centre and York Lanes which have flexible accessibility to commuting and conveniently distanced food and social joints.
Favourite place to eat: Shopsys. They have the most comfortable seating and a spaced out ambience. I sometimes have a great time ordering a glass of wine and cheese flatbreads while working on my computer during lunch hours (when there is comparatively less of a crowd and noise than other places).
Last exciting school event that you attended (and weren’t a part of organizing): I have always volunteered to be a part of any event or organising committee throughout York. However, intellectual stimulation and depth of knowledge with “hands on” is what excites me. The most memorable event of my school years was a “Cross Culture Workshop” organised by YFS during Multicultural week. I really loved this event is because everyone got to learn things from the different cultures. The importance, depiction, depth and significance of every cultural club was unique. Travelling is my passion and why people travel (according to me) is to discover how the world truly is. This workshop inspired me to travel to these countries and to grow ethically away from “any one land” of societal norms or stereotypes and be to a global citizen.
Best memory at York: My whole First year. The “new place” vibe was just one time. Participation anywhere was an achievement. Making loads of friends and facing new challenges was a great boost to start a University life with great support and understanding of the York crowd.
Relieving exam/class stress: I do not waste time thinking on what shall happen and reduce my workload in order to sharpen efficiency. Handling stress became a habit where sharing anxiety with friends helped to reduce the stress in start. Slowly I realised that having complete clarity of a project before I start considerably reduced my stress. So it’s better to develop a clear direction and work ethic even if a task is last moment. A feeling of failure is good if it drives you, but not if it controls the start of a consecutive project.
Inspirations: Life is a big game, regardless of how small the world is. My strength comes from the support of family and friends. Realistically in life, I look up to my mother and younger brother who bear positive attitudes and possess the killer instincts to achieve and maintain anything in life. Spiritually, I look up to Lord Buddha and Rama who were an epitome of ideal characters and great teachers that guide one through life when making difficult decisions. In an everyday life, I wake up with the sun, where the environment around me inspires a fresh start.
Achievements of others and institutional results are not a potent mixture with which to define oneself. In the way that people may not see the radiant light during dusk, power can’t be physically seen. What others see as success is not what it is. Also, believe in what you do regardless of time because after all, the moon and thousands of stars are defined only when the sun sets.