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Desi News Corp - Desi News - March 2009 - Index

CAREERS CAREERS START
@ @ Centennial Centennial College
College
ABDULLAH
MUHASEEN
IS IN HIS SECOND YEAR
OF THE PARAMEDIC
PROGRAM AT
CENTENNIAL COLLEGE
Ah-ha moments of
personal discovery are
usually well received
by individuals poised at a
crossroads and looking for the
right direction in their lives.
“I had spent an entire night
debugging a computer program
and realized as the sun was
coming up that the reason it
wasn’t working was due to one
tiny error – I shouldn’t have
used a capital letter in one line
of code,” says 24-year-old
Abdullah Muhaseen.
“It dawned on me, after a
whole night of fretting over
code, that this wasn’t for me.”
It was a frustrating revelation
because, as a high school student,
he was suddenly without a career
path, precisely at a time when he
was expected to make a vital decision
about what he was going
to make of his life. But Muhaseen
had a backup plan.
“My family, like many ‘brown’
families, had the mentality
of pushing their children towards
the doctor, lawyer,
engineer and accountant professions.
My uncle was a doctor
in Newfoundland, so it was not
a stretch to see me pursue a
medical career.”
Born in Kandy, Sri Lanka,
Muhaseen came to Canada with
his family at the age of oneand-a-half.
The family went to
Kippens, Newfoundland, to
NARI MAVALWALLA /DESI NEWS
Saving lives just
another day at work
live with his uncle while
Muhaseen’s father attended
engineering classes at Memorial
University.
“We were the only brown
family in the area,” he recalls with
a smile. “When my uncle was sent
there in the 1970s to practise
medicine as a new immigrant, he
was such an unusual sight the
local TV station came out to
interview him!”
After seven years living on
the Rock, Muhaseen’s family
relocated to Toronto where his
father found contract work as an
engineer. Muhaseen enrolled at
Jarvis Collegiate.
His interest in biology
prompted him to start a biology
club at his school, which became
the source of his backup plan
when computer science fell
through.
“I applied to the University
of Toronto at Scarborough and
pursued double majors in Neuroscience
and Psychology,” he
says. “But after four years, I
realized that it was hard to find
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a job in the field that wasn’t
research-based.”
Muhaseen was keen to explore
other options and remembered
that his friend had completed
the Paramedic program
at Centennial College. He had
gotten a well-paying job right
after graduation and the work
sounded fascinating.
Like many graduates who are
disappointed by their prospects
after university, Muhaseen
applied to college for two
more years of education. He
doesn’t regret his decision.
“My first year at Centennial
was more difficult intellectually
than my four years at university
combined. A lot of people – especially
parents – don’t realize just
how demanding college can be.”
“At university you can procrastinate
and miss a lot of
lectures, whereas at college you
have to keep on top of your
assignments to be at the top of
your game,” he says. Muhaseen
points out that a typical first-year
class at university can have 1,500
students in a lecture hall, while at
Centennial classes are typically
between 30 and 60 participants.
“At college there’s a lot of
one-on-one time with the professors;
they’re much more
approachable and personable.
And they’ve had experience in
the field – some have even won
awards for their work.”
The appeal of the paramedic
profession is multifaceted
for Muhaseen. He likes
the idea of always being on the
go, with each day bringing new
challenges and never having to
face boredom.
He also noticed that people
in the paramedic profession are
exceptional human beings who