The day I got my admission letter to the MM Program was also the day my father suffered multiple strokes. For 7 days, I sat outside the ICU until he opened his eyes. His nurses knew me by now as the kid who never left, even after visiting hours were over.

On that 7th day, I got a phone call at 4am,”Usman? Your Dad woke up, he’s asking for you”. I was at the pharmacy, getting his medicines. I am sure I had an overdose of adrenaline in my system as I ran to the ICU.

I approached his bed; he looked into my eyes, the first thing he said to me “Did you get in?”. I held back the tears but they kept pouring as I nodded,”Yes”. The second thing he said to me, “Why are you still here? Go! I am Okay”.

A year later, I arrived in Vancouver. I knew no one. I was staying at an AirBnB for 7 days during which I had to find a long term place to stay. I did not know how to get around, Google maps was very new to me, as were working transit systems. I was overwhelmed to say the least. Immediately stress started to pile on.

During Orientation Week we were pushed to get out of our comfort zones and all I could think to myself was, “How much more out of my element, could I really be?”. I pushed on and I met Kristen Underwood who not only found me a place to stay but also became nothing less than family in this now exciting and new city. She was followed by 54 other individuals in this cohort who showed me nothing but love and helped become a part of this beautiful city and country.

But 6 months later, stress started to pile on again as I got close to completing the course and was nowhere close to finding a job. Once again, Sauder pushed me to get out of my comfort zone, holding networking events and pushing us to make something happen for ourselves. At one of these networking events I met Ania Cox, the Director of HR at Western Forest Products who asked me if I was looking for a job, when I smiled, she handed me her business card and 3 weeks after my last class (and countless sessions with Carly Boettcher) at Sauder, I had the offer letter in my hand.

I am now living on Vancouver Island and I have 6 months to come up with ways to enhance a multi-billion dollar business. This time, I am not stressed about it. Because Sauder’s MM gave me everything I need to take this challenge head on. I have worked hard to get where I am, but I am hungry for more. Nothing is impossible. Take a step back, breathe and close your eyes. Ask yourself; what do you crave? What will you do to get it? Remember, “Tuum Est” (It’s Upto You).

– Usman Bhatti, MM’17

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With all the drinking and celebration going on, it is easy to forget the origins of St. Patrick’s Day. March 17th commemorates the day that St. Patrick’s died. A Roman boy enslaved by the Irish, Patrick, helped bring Christianity to Ireland peacefully in the fifth century. Legend has it that Patrick used the shamrock, with three petals on its stem, to explain the Holy Trinity while converting a pagan Irish King.

I was most excited about this day in particular, at the beginning of the program, given the opportunity to come up with cultural festivals to celebrate throughout the year. And I am glad (as someone who had not celebrated St. Patrick’s day before) that we have our own Irish champ in the class, giving us an even better excuse to go celebrate the day. On a day where our ethics class proposed that it is our responsibility to go green to protect the environment, we did exactly that. We had a challenge to see who could wear the most green on the night and there were many contenders for the winning spot. Camille looked elegant with her green dress and brown shoes. Mandeep showed up with the brightest green jacket that I have ever seen in my life. And Shamsheer showed dedication with a green shirt and a matching green turban.

While the folks were enjoying, the waitress happened to tell me a funny joke that I would like to share. She was waiting tables one time when an American stumped her with a drink order. She took the order and approached the bartender, “Have you ever heard of a drink called ‘Seven young blondes’? He admitted he had never heard of it and grabbed a guidebook to look it up. Unable to find the recipe, he asked her to tell the patron that she would be happy to get the drink made if he could list the ingredients for her. “Sir”, she said, “can you tell me what’s in the drink?” The American looked at her like she was nuts. “It’s wine,” he said, pronouncing his words carefully this time, “Sauvignon Blanc!”

– Anoop Banodkar

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“For me it’s important to be in balance. To not let fear get in the way of things, to not worry so much about protecting yourself all the time.”
 – John Frusciante, Lead Guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Music is one those things that pulls you in and ties you down. There’s just something about it that has always called out to me, and I can’t think of any substitute for the beautiful feeling of writing songs. It is a process that requires deep introspection, large emotional investment, and a genuine need for expression. Most importantly, it takes time to write a song, and in the MM program time is a valuable commodity.

Since the start of our program I felt as though I was being pulled in two separate directions. One towards a passion for creative expression, and another towards my desire to succeed in the business world as an entrepreneur. Time was the only constraint, and I found myself in a constant state of strife between my two passions. The conflict was almost too real for me to handle, and there were many instances where I considered dropping one option for the other. You can only imagine my parents’ reactions when I had asked them what they would think if I decided to be a professional musician over winter break! Nevertheless I powered through, spending each night thinking about what I truly wanted to do with my life, and after one particularly busy weekend in January I had come to a realization that enlightened me on the path I wanted to take.

That week in January was a hellish one for me. All I really remember was having pile after pile of work from school and my father’s company, on top of upcoming gigs dropping on my shoulders like a bag of bricks. At the end of it I was exhausted, and had spent my entire Sunday in my room staring at the ceiling. It was then that the realization hit me. It was like one of those cheesy scenes in teen dramas where, the male protagonist who felt so conflicted about telling the leading lady how he feels, realizes how much he loved her, and rushes out to see her again.

I realized that I had survived.

It was a surreal feeling. I began asking questions to myself like “Am I sure there is nothing else I have to do?” or “How did I even have the time?” I slowly let it sink in, and came to realize that my success was a result of achieving a proper balance. You could say that balance was the bridge between my two passions. It enabled me to skirt between the two and see each for what they were. By successfully learning to manage my time, I eventually saw that nothing could take me away from what I truly wished to achieve.

This is not to say that balancing two strong passions is easy. There are times when one tries to overpower the other, and the temptation is so strong that it becomes impossible to resist the urge to excessively indulge. In my case, that comes in the form of song ideas that I just have to get in writing when the inspiration hits. To others it could be a potential client calling for a sale, a company calling for an interview, or even a child asking if they want to play a quick game of hide and seek. Regardless of the situation, we all find ways to balance it out in the long run: whether that means spending an extra hour in the MM lounge slaving away in front of a computer screen, or in my case, putting aside school work to do that last quality guitar recording.

Often you’ll feel like you have to choose one door over another. But, what you have to realize is that, finding balance can create a way for you to open both at the same time.

–  Angelino De Guzman

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