Some students arrive at university with a very open mind as to what they intend to study, ready to discover what inspires them.
Then there are students like Qendresa Sahiti who seem to know exactly where they鈥檙e headed before they even set foot on campus.
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鈥淚 knew from pretty early on that I wanted to go into ,鈥� says the 18-year-old graduate of Halifax West High School, who just started her first year in Dal's program.
While Qendresa鈥檚 interest in the field stems in part from her love of science and research, it was a recent experience volunteering with Alzheimer鈥檚 patients at a senior-care home that provided her with an even deeper motivation.
鈥淪eeing the effect that it had on them in their everyday lives was very hard. It motivated me to try to better the lives of these people and the people who would suffer from it in the future," she says, noting she鈥檇 eventually like to research early onset dementia and mental-health diagnosis.
From being green to welcoming newcomers
Getting involved and helping others in the community has become a priority for Qendresa over the past few years 鈥� efforts that have now earned her a TD Scholarship for Community Leadership worth up to $70,000 over the course of her degree.
At Halifax West, Qendresa dove headlong into different activities. She set up an environmental club that led tree-planting sessions, enrolled the club in a worldwide battery recycling program that creates pills for children with zinc deficiencies, and organized a grounds-cleanup partnership with a local trails association.
Her interest in leadership also led her to volunteer with the Nova Scotia Secondary School Students Association, a non-profit student-led group that organizes leadership conferences and opportunities for high school students across the province. She served as secretary of the group鈥檚 inclusion committee, helping engage and include students with disabilities in activities.
Qendresa鈥檚 desire to help others extended to newcomers at her school as well. As a student ambassador with the Nova Scotia International Students Program, she worked to make sure new students from abroad at her school felt welcome and supported as they adjusted to life in Canada.
It鈥檚 an issue that鈥檚 close to Qendresa鈥檚 heart. In 1999, when she was just a year old, her family fled Kosovo for a short time as refugees of a brutal civil war there. After a few weeks in a refugee camp in Macedonia they were relocated to Australia, where they stayed for eight weeks until conditions back home began to improve.
Although offered a choice to stay in Australia and eventually gain citizenship, her parents chose instead to return to Kosovo with the hopes of rebuilding their lives there. When conditions failed to improve after a few years, though, they decided to move to Halifax. They've been here ever since.
鈥淢y parents were just disenchanted with the whole place,鈥� she says of Kosovo. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where they鈥檇 grown up and where their entire family was, but they just didn鈥檛 see any opportunities for us there.鈥�
Although she was just six at the time, Qendresa remembers how much the support of the local community here helped her and her family.
鈥淲e had a lot of help from community members on everything from overcoming the language barriers to navigating the city,鈥� she says.
Not sitting still
Part of her parents鈥� motivation in choosing to settle in Canada, she says, was their desire to live in a country that provides equal opportunity for those willing to work hard for it.
It鈥檚 a value Qendresa shares. So much so that her family sometimes gives her a hard time about it.
鈥淢y parents get a little upset with me sometimes, like 鈥榊ou鈥檙e never home, you鈥檙e never just chilling out,鈥欌�� she says.
Her parents' home in Clayton Park is just a 20-minute bus ride away from Dal, so she plans to continue living there this year along with her three younger siblings (two sisters and a brother). With many of her close friends having left Halifax to go to school in other cities and provinces, she says she is especially excited to meet a whole new batch of people at Dal 鈥� and about getting involved, of course.
鈥淒al has so many opportunities to do what you love and to help people,鈥� she says, noting that she hopes to get involved in student government and in women鈥檚 rugby, for starters.
One thing is for sure: Qendresa won鈥檛 be sitting still.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel okay sitting still for long periods of time. I feel like I鈥檓 wasting time.鈥�