Episode 3 - Sajid Malik

Sajid Malik is a previous Humber graduate and current business owner of local Brampton Driving School AAA Four Star. He studied at York University for Law and Society with aspiraiton to have a career path in law. Sajid decided to change paths and enrolled in Humber’s In-Car Driving Instructor Training for transportaiton safety and graduated in 2015. Sajid shares his perspective from university and college education and how he preferred the hands on experinece at Humber College.

Thank you everyone and stay tuned!

Transcript

Transcript

00:00:07 Speaker 1

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining in on the 3rd episode of the Student series. Today we have a guest, Sajid Malik.

00:00:18 Speaker 1

Yay. And he's going to be.

00:00:19 Speaker 1

Joining in today, so hey salgood, how?

00:00:21 Speaker 1

Are you doing?

00:00:22 Speaker 2

I'm good. How are you?

00:00:23 Speaker 1

I'm good. Thank you for joining.

00:00:25 Speaker 2

No problem, no problem. Pleasure.

00:00:27 Speaker 1

So just for our listeners, tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit about your background.

00:00:34 Speaker 2

I was a student here and I was studying transportation and safety at Humber North and that's where my journey began and I went around and did different things in the same field.

00:00:49 Speaker 1

So tell us a little bit more about yourself though, specifically about your education.

00:00:53 Speaker 2

Answer your queue for law and society. So that's where.

00:00:57 Speaker 2

I went and.

00:00:58 Speaker 2

I also studied aircraft maintenance at Centennial College.

00:01:03 Speaker 1

And then how did you?

00:01:04 Speaker 1

Trained the program at Humber College, you mentioned it was a transportation, correct.

00:01:09 Speaker 2

Transportation and safety. Yeah, correct. Yeah.

00:01:11 Speaker 1

OK, so how did?

00:01:12 Speaker 1

Find that.

00:01:13 Speaker 2

It was amazing. It was better than I thought it was going to be. I mean not to suspect, but it was amazing.

00:01:20 Speaker 2

I got to learn a lot of things. I got to learn things that I thought in other schools where it. I mean in in Humber, it really broke it down to really.

00:01:32 Speaker 2

Root level where I got to learn the different, you know, aspects of the field in the course. So it was amazing.

00:01:40 Speaker 1

In transportation, what was your end?

00:01:42 Speaker 2

Goal is it's basically driving education so.

00:01:48 Speaker 2

To be specific, that's what it was and I I got to. I have a driving school of my own now.

00:01:56 Speaker 2

So that's the field I actually joined after I was in the program for traps, so it was better. Basically transportation and safety, but to go in depth. It was a driving.

00:02:08 Speaker 2

School education so drivers education to be exact.

00:02:11 Speaker 1

Oh, wow. And then what was your driving school?

00:02:14 Speaker 2

8884 star in Brampton AAA four-star is it's it's been operational since 2004. Yeah, I mean I I haven't been.

00:02:21 Speaker 1

Oh wow. So.

00:02:23 Speaker 2

There since then, four. But.

00:02:25 Speaker 1

Yeah. So you actually use that?

00:02:27 Speaker 1

Program to help with. I guess your business.

00:02:29 Speaker 2

Correct, correct.

00:02:30 Speaker 1

Yeah. Perfect. So then how was your experience compared from university to college? OK, if you could compare.

00:02:38 Speaker 1

The two, what would you say?

00:02:38 Speaker 2

Hmm, I notice I I did hear about it all the time that college is more hands on and I did not know that till I actually came to college and.

00:02:51 Speaker 2

I got uh, you know, speakers, it's more in depth. That's why I was saying earlier that it's more in depth where I got to learn the real depth of the course instead instead of just the just the paper.

00:03:04 Speaker 2

Right, so I got to experience the hands on experience because I came to Humber and I came to Centennial.

00:03:11 Speaker 2

So Humber I also learned a lot of hands on experience, which was obviously true because that's what I was hearing in the past and that.

00:03:19 Speaker 1

Yeah. Great. So how did you find? Because I don't know if you were working while you were in school.

00:03:25 Speaker 1

Like did you have?

00:03:26 Speaker 1

Any type of work you were doing on the side while you.

00:03:28 Speaker 1

Were studying transportation? Yeah.

00:03:30 Speaker 2

I was actually I I had a mechanical contracting company that I was working with, so I was getting.

00:03:38 Speaker 2

Used to that.

00:03:39 Speaker 2

You worked.

00:03:40 Speaker 2

So which was also very hands on. So it's great help for me to learn both aspects.

00:03:47 Speaker 1

You already had the hands on experience with the theoretical from early from York University and now coming into Hamburg.

00:03:53 Speaker 1

Were you more?

00:03:54 Speaker 2

Prepared. Correct. Correct. Yeah. So it was it.

00:03:56 Speaker 2

Got it. Made me.

00:03:57 Speaker 2

See the both worlds. So that's what I'm saying.

00:04:00 Speaker 1

Yes. Nice. So. But so how did you find the work and school life balance did?

00:04:03 Speaker 1

You find it challenging.

00:04:05 Speaker 2

It was challenging at one point, but to be honest, I think if you get into it, that's what you figure things out. I mean, you don't know how.

00:04:14 Speaker 2

To swim too, you jump the river, right?

00:04:16 Speaker 2

So sometimes you learn. Yeah, yeah, sometimes that's.

00:04:18 Speaker 1

I wouldn't jump.

00:04:21 Speaker 2

When you learn.

00:04:21 Speaker 2

Because you got to get in the water. So I got to learn how to balance life.

00:04:28 Speaker 2

Like I was working in the daytime when I had a part time classes.

00:04:31 Speaker 2

In the evening.

00:04:32 Speaker 2

So it did help a lot like for me to you.

00:04:35 Speaker 2

Know time management.

00:04:37 Speaker 2

Then we will learn new skills.

00:04:39 Speaker 1

Yeah, time management is always very tricky I find.

00:04:43 Speaker 1

Yeah. So then, did you find any strategies that you thought were able to help you along the way?

00:04:51 Speaker 2

Yes, yes, I when I made my time.

00:04:55 Speaker 2

And on my time and every time I had questions, I did ask, uh, the expertise that were on on campus and people who were willing to help me.

00:05:05 Speaker 2

All the time.

00:05:06 Speaker 2

So that's when I mean that's when the hands and experience comes in, right. So it's not like you just write a paper and you move on, it's because.

00:05:14 Speaker 2

Every time I had questions I I got to ask the people in the field with their expertise and they've been more are more likely to help me.

00:05:23 Speaker 2

So it it really helped a lot for me to learn, really adept than you know, in a lot of descriptions.

00:05:29 Speaker 1

And I guess cause compared to university.

00:05:32 Speaker 1

Like I haven't went to university, I prefer college. I like more of the hands on approach, especially with my program.

00:05:38 Speaker 1

It's like a mix of both. I get theoretical and hands on. So did you find that, you know, having a smaller classroom size really helped you?

00:05:47 Speaker 1

More like in a different way, different aspect.

00:05:49 Speaker 2

And yeah, a lot.

00:05:50 Speaker 2

A lot because if a class is smaller, so of of course the teacher will, a professor will.

00:05:57 Speaker 2

I mean, he will really pay attention to a lot of he can pay attention is not a big class.

00:06:03 Speaker 2

So yes, that did help a lot compared to universal Big Hall, I mean I'm not saying anything that is just that in college it's a it's a lot of.

00:06:13 Speaker 2

I mean more.

00:06:14 Speaker 2

You get more attention. That's what I'm saying, yes.

00:06:16 Speaker 1

So how did you find? Like any stress along the way while you were studying? Like obviously certain times I feel like during midterm final exam, you were a little.

00:06:24 Speaker 1

Stressed out.

00:06:25 Speaker 2

Yes, I did feel a little bit stressed out, but for some.

00:06:29 Speaker 2

Reason it was.

00:06:30 Speaker 2

It was manageable. I don't know. It was really mad.

00:06:32 Speaker 2

Eligible, which was pretty good for me because I was, like I said, I was working and I was going to college the same time and at one point now, even when I was in university, I was.

00:06:43 Speaker 2

Working too.

00:06:44 Speaker 2

But then I got the manage time and I think it's it's once you make up your mind it it works out at the end of the day.

00:06:51 Speaker 1

So then how, what strategies did you find ways to help with your stress? Like how did you cope with?

00:06:56 Speaker 2

It I think you have to the I think it all comes down to time management. If you can make your.

00:07:02 Speaker 2

Mine because I feel like I was only days if I was ever stressed. It was because you're not getting to do other things, you know you're just going to school and come to work.

00:07:12 Speaker 2

So if you can, if you can get time for other things you know working out and make time to, you know, sleep on time, eat on time and you know.

00:07:22 Speaker 2

You know even.

00:07:23 Speaker 2

Have some breathing space so that really helps you destress and make more you know things manageable.

00:07:30 Speaker 1

I guess have a proper schedule set up plan things in advance. Yeah. So then I I guess from telling you're mentioning, like eating sleeping, I guess you take like.

00:07:33 Speaker 2

Facts correct.

00:07:40 Speaker 1

Mindfulness is very important for you.

00:07:42 Speaker 2

Correct. Yeah. You have to, you have to have a mindfulness. Yeah, correct.

00:07:46 Speaker 1

So did you find that, you know, eating? You mentioned eating like we're eating the right foods or we're just.

00:07:55 Speaker 1

Gonna be on a time.

00:07:56 Speaker 1

Crunch and I'll just grab whatever I can.

00:07:58 Speaker 2

Yeah. Let me at times I was eating healthy, but it's not that you're eating healthy all the time, right?

00:08:06 Speaker 2

So it's basically yes, eating healthy, I mean going to the gym, it does help a lot, right, because that's the time you are you know.

00:08:17 Speaker 2

Uhm, destressing right and you get to make some time for different things, right. So you're not only going to school and going to, you know, work. So that way it it does help a lot. I mean, I hope I'm making sense.

00:08:31 Speaker 1

No, it makes sense I guess for you. You really have to look at what you want to prioritize while you're in school while you're working and make sure you still have time to do those things that are important.

00:08:32 Speaker 2

Correct. Yeah.

00:08:41 Speaker 1

To you, correct, correct.

00:08:43 Speaker 1

So then.

00:08:44 Speaker 1

Resources. Did you feel that where you were able?

00:08:48 Speaker 1

To use on campus.

00:08:50 Speaker 2

Resources like I said, I was going to like you can go to library. You could talk to your expertise. You could talk to your teachers, you could talk to your professors and see what kind of life experience they had and what kind of life experience they have teaching that course because they get to see.

00:09:04 Speaker 2

Different students all the time, right? So that really.

00:09:08 Speaker 2

Helps a lot.

00:09:09 Speaker 1

We're able to reach out the same as like in college compared to university.

00:09:14 Speaker 1

Or like a really big difference.

00:09:14 Speaker 2

No, no, it's it's, it's a difference. It's a difference in, in, in your city it's a it's much more.

00:09:20 Speaker 2

Broader picture. So you're just in this broad picture. So it's not like it's not very individual.

00:09:26 Speaker 1

Where did you load most of the?

00:09:27 Speaker 1

Time you mentioned the library, your library.

00:09:30 Speaker 2

Here talked to the teachers. I'm more of a I was more for teachers or professors, people like I I got to ask like the questions.

00:09:37 Speaker 1

You're a people person.

00:09:38 Speaker 2

I'm be this person, yes.

00:09:39 Speaker 1

So you just ask them questions you're like, am I doing it right or like, do you ask for?

00:09:43 Speaker 1

Their advice along the way?

00:09:44 Speaker 2

Yeah, you asked for advice and you ask for, like, different. If they had any history but certain.

00:09:50 Speaker 2

You know, aspects of the course, right, because they might have more experience because they're talking to a.

00:09:56 Speaker 2

Lot of people.

00:09:57 Speaker 2

And I mean thousands of students, right? So they they probably knew a lot of things. So if you ask them any question, they are able to answer that because they have experience in the field.

00:10:05 Speaker 1

And I find that most are very open to talk and share their experiences because they want everyone to succeed from here.

00:10:08 Speaker 2

Correct, correct. Yeah, correct. Yeah. Yeah.

00:10:11 Speaker 2

Yeah, correct, that's that's right, yes.

00:10:14 Speaker 1

So then how did you find cause? I know this can be a bit of a personal question, but how did you find the state of your mental health along like your school journey?

00:10:24 Speaker 1

And even if you compare it to like when you went to Seneca Humber, York, how did you find it along the way?

00:10:31 Speaker 2

It was. It was.

00:10:31 Speaker 2

Manageable for me, but exactly like I said, if you don't do proper time management, I mean, if you don't have a time management and you're just going to school and you're you're just working at the same time and you don't have enough time.

00:10:45 Speaker 2

In your daily life, so maybe that what causes the stress rate. So if you if you somehow manage.

00:10:52 Speaker 2

School and do your daily activities at the same time. Make some time. I'm sure that can really help you stay focused and make you stay. Sorry. Get you mentally ready. Prepared for the course the next day.

00:11:08 Speaker 1

After finishing university, did you feel you're mentally ready to start home college or were you like, oh, this is a whole different journey?

00:11:16 Speaker 2

It was actually actually a very good experience.

00:11:20 Speaker 2

To be honest.

00:11:21 Speaker 2

Because when I came from UNI to college, I almost felt like I was.

00:11:30 Speaker 2

Uh. Others paid attention to, you know, because you know, usually it's a different. And I didn't think I thought it would be pretty much same thing, just a little.

00:11:37 Speaker 2

Bit smaller compared.

00:11:38 Speaker 2

To union right.

00:11:40 Speaker 2

But uh, that's not true. In in college, you got more hands on and it almost seems like a debate between me and college. But I'm just sharing my experience, that's.

00:11:48 Speaker 1

I mean, that's your.

00:11:49 Speaker 1

You can see both.

00:11:49 Speaker 2

My experience, yeah. And like I said earlier, I I did hear about it earlier, like in my past all year college is this in high school.

00:11:57 Speaker 2

Is more academic this and that. But uh, when you get to see the hands on, that's when.

00:12:02 Speaker 2

They go. Wow, that's.

00:12:03 Speaker 2

Right.

00:12:03 Speaker 1

Yeah. And then did you feel that like when you're connecting with other individuals? How?

00:12:08 Speaker 1

Did you find?

00:12:09 Speaker 2

That it was good. It was good. People around me were very helpful, especially the other students. You can all.

00:12:19 Speaker 2

Like live in that environment and learn from each other, right? So that's the good part.

00:12:23 Speaker 2

Where you can talk to each other about different question if you have and you can always you know write things down and learn from each other. So yes, that was a very good experience.

00:12:34 Speaker 1

So along through your journey, is there any of?

00:12:37 Speaker 1

Users that you've stayed in contact with because I know some are very close with them, some have them on LinkedIn, Facebook.

00:12:44 Speaker 2

Actually was a teacher that was also. He was. I forgot the exact position he had, but he was very new person in that field.

00:12:55 Speaker 2

So that teacher we we got.

00:12:57 Speaker 1

I'm sorry, which field will this?

00:12:59 Speaker 2

In in in driving education program, yeah. So he was very he was very new and feel like for if I remember good maybe 30 years of experience. So and if I remember good he came a couple of times and he shared his card his business card to fee.

00:13:01 Speaker 1

OK.

00:13:19 Speaker 2

If we wanted to call him and ask him for more, uh, you know, more question.

00:13:23 Speaker 2

And he was feeling willingly helping you. So it was. It was good.

00:13:28 Speaker 1

So did he ever.

00:13:29 Speaker 1

Call him.

00:13:32 Speaker 2

No, I never called him that. I didn't see.

00:13:34 Speaker 2

Him around few times, so we got to have the conversation.

00:13:37 Speaker 2

Yeah. And some other students of mine who kept in contact with them so.

00:13:41 Speaker 1

That's nice. I think having people that are ready to support you and help you along the way is really important.

00:13:41 Speaker 2

Yeah, it was. It was good, yeah.

00:13:48 Speaker 1

Even after you finish your education, sometimes you still may be wondering, like, oh, let me ask him about this. What's their advice? Since they've been in the field and they've had experience for so long, right?

00:14:00 Speaker 2

Of course. Yeah, that helps you a lot because.

00:14:03 Speaker 2

Like I said, they have a lot of experience. You, you, you're in the program for just a little bit, but then they've been in, in, in the business for a very long time.

00:14:10 Speaker 2

So it it kind of does help you with the uh, with the experience they have and they can share their experience and you know and it's amazing that they can help you in all fields like when you're off college or off.

00:14:23 Speaker 2

Uni. They get to help you, right? So that's a very that's a very good experience I had, yes.

00:14:30 Speaker 1

That's amazing. I think hearing how sometimes.

00:14:34 Speaker 1

College can change people's perspective.

00:14:37 Speaker 1

After finishing your program, how did you feel like the two resources used the Humber? Like, how was that your outcome from them?

00:14:44 Speaker 2

I actually have huge respect for Humber College afterward.

00:14:51

No wonder.

00:14:56 Speaker 2

Canada, right? But I knew a.

00:14:58 Speaker 2

Lot of people when I.

00:14:59 Speaker 2

Was in high school, they were in Hamburg.

00:15:00 Speaker 2

In person because it.

00:15:02 Speaker 2

Was a very local from place. I lived. You never really pay attention to the college. That's really close.

00:15:07 Speaker 2

But you always think about schools. Oh, wow, there's a school in other problems. But I had a very good experience and and I still always have a good experience with people who came from them, where they they seemed like very humble people, humble, humble.

00:15:22 Speaker 1

That should be the new model Lionel Humber. So just one key take away, if you could give advice to our listeners, what would it be?

00:15:24 Speaker 2

Makes you Mumbles.

00:15:37 Speaker 2

I mean things seem very hard at first, but once you get into it and I will try to make sense as much as I can, but I think I personally think whatever experience I had did a lot of jobs and I came from very different jobs like you know, after high school, I got to get in very different jobs. And one thing I really know.

00:15:57 Speaker 2

I can really motivate people is you can do anything if you want to. You just have to get into it. It's just that the first initial first.

00:16:07 Speaker 2

Uh, that's kind of hard. But after that first initial move, it's actually, uh, very uh easy because you go by, you know, as as the time goes on and you.

00:16:19 Speaker 2

Get to learn.

00:16:20 Speaker 2

Different things and you grow daily.

00:16:22 Speaker 2

So that's one of the things that I could tell people that if you feel like.

00:16:25 Speaker 2

You could do something.

00:16:26 Speaker 2

Legally, you should probably yeah, put.

00:16:28 Speaker 1

Putting it out there.

00:16:29 Speaker 2

That out there.

00:16:30 Speaker 2

You should. You should get into it and maybe get through it by time to.

00:16:34 Speaker 2

Time and it works out.

00:16:36 Speaker 2

And if it's, if it doesn't work out, there's always, there's never.

00:16:40 Speaker 1

Always another path.

00:16:41 Speaker 2

Or with another pathway, even with businesses, right. If you were to get into a different business, sorry it won't.

00:16:46 Speaker 2

Take it too long.

00:16:47

No, no, no.

00:16:48

We can speak your truth.

00:16:49 Speaker 2

So if even if you're in the business, you you can take your you you could go get a new business.

00:16:56 Speaker 2

And if it doesn't work out, there's always more things out there for you, right? So it's never, never good to feel low and feel like you're losing.

00:17:05 Speaker 2

In life, it's you're never losing. You're always meaning something.

00:17:09 Speaker 1

Yeah, I think that's.

00:17:10 Speaker 1

A good thing you said you're never losing. You're always winning something. And I think we can tend to look at the bad things, compare like our peers, what they're doing and we're not doing anything compared to that. But we should always look and be grateful because we're we're always winning. We always have something.

00:17:25 Speaker 2

Yeah, of course. You always. I mean initially you always.

00:17:30 Speaker 2

You're always winning something, right? It's. It's like, even even if you lose, if you fail, of course. I mean, I would think you should purposely fail a course, but you always get to learn something from you, right?

00:17:41 Speaker 2

Just like like a business, if you were to, if you were to lose in business or if.

00:17:46 Speaker 2

You were to.

00:17:46 Speaker 2

Lose. I mean, if you had to start a new business.

00:17:49 Speaker 2

You already have some tools from the past.

00:17:52 Speaker 2

Business you had earlier and you get to move on from there, right? So it does help a lot. Yes, correct, yeah.

00:17:58 Speaker 1

So I think.

00:17:59 Speaker 1

From your own personal experience, definitely reach out to your professors. Reach out to them. They're if they're there they want to.

00:18:06 Speaker 1

Help. Go to them.

00:18:07 Speaker 2

Correct. Yes, that's the way you learn and that's the way you communicate and you know it works out. Yes, correct.

00:18:16 Speaker 1

Thank you so much.

00:18:17 Speaker 1

And we'll hope to do another episode.

00:18:20 Speaker 1

Maybe in the future again.

00:18:21 Speaker 2

Thank you so much and thanks, it was. It was a pleasure being here. Yes.

00:18:25 Speaker 1

Thank you guys for listening. Take care.