As a small business owner, a frequent volunteer and a man with a big heart, Sukhi Sangha is our second Youth of the Month for July!

At the age of 23, Sukhi is a force not to be reckoned with. Graduating from Tamanawis Secondary as a Valedictorian, Student Council vice president and Annual Debate Champion,  he received the Best Public Speaker Award and the Best Individual Speaker Award from the Surrey District. Recently, Sukhi was included in Surrey’s Top 25 Under 25, an award organization aimed to recognize youth who are potential ‘leaders of tomorrow’  in areas such as social issues, business and civic development. He was also a finalist in the Youth Entrepreneur Award in the 17^th annual Cultural DIVERSEcity Awards. With all of these highly-recognized awards, Sukhi is a household name among his family, friends and local businesses. Sukhi aims to use his knowledge and experience to reach his goals.

Earlier on in his life, Sukhi worked with Kids Help Phone as an ambassador. He answered calls from students that were pushed around at school, something he could easily relate to. Growing up in Canada, Sukhi was bullied because of his Scottish accent. Going through that experience, he wanted to do as much as he could to prevent kids from being bullied.

Presently, Sukhi is a third year Health Sciences student at SFU, where he hopes to work in the field of medicine in the near future. He is also a frequent volunteer at the Surrey Memorial Hospital. “Just by being there, and listening to their stories, I started to develop myself and realized that I wanted to work in the medical field,” said Sukhi.

A major milestone in Sukhi’s life thus far was starting his own business called Sangha’s Learning Centre in 2007, when he was just 19, tutoring students from Grade K-12. The learning centre is one of its kind; not only does it include all grades, but it provides special needs assistance. A majority of learning centers including well known centres such as Kumon and Brainchild do not offer such services. When asked what made him start  his own learning centre, Sukhi replied with much enthusiasm. “With much experience tutoring kids, I have seen a lot of students struggle and I wanted to do something about it,” said Sukhi. “Education requires determination and hard work so I thought to myself, why not use that knowledge to help students? This means much to me, as it tells me that the system’s working and students are getting results and parents are satisfied.”

By ‘liking’ his Facebook page of Sangha’s Learning Center, Sukhi will donate $1 to the BC Cancer foundation. Sukhi hopes to reach the goal of 1000. “At the Surrey Memorial Hospital, I encountered many patients with cancer,” said Sukhi. “In Canada, cancer is the leading cause of death, surpassing cardiovascular disease. There needs to be more education about it, so our youth can step up and take care of their health, in order to reduce risks.”

Sukhi also released a video to accompany the fundraising event. “With fundraising dinners and dances, its very exciting, and fun, but it is forgettable and  common” he said. “With Facebook and Youtube, it literally takes one second to like and two minutes to watch the video!”

Sukhi is an admirable role model for many. As a confident speaker, a passionate teacher and a philanthropist, Sukhi invites us all to take steps to support our causes. Despite the risks and obstacles one may face, Sukhi offers these encouraging words: “Surround yourself with good people,” he says. “It is really easy to lose focus and get off track so get around people with a similar mindset that are open minded, positive and people who can achieve your goals.”

Follow Sukhi Sangha: @realsukhisangha

Featured photo taken by SFU Public Affairs & Media Relations