Moving from Iran to Canada at 16 years old wasn’t easy. When I first arrived, I didn’t speak English. This made school particularly challenging.
But each day, I would look forward to math class. I couldn’t wait for it to begin. Math was my universal language. Because even when I couldn’t understand what the teacher was saying, I could figure out the lesson she was teaching based on the equations she drew up on the blackboard.
Eventually, I came to realize that I had a knack for numbers, and that math came easier to me than it did for my classmates. Many of them seemed to be struggling with math, and I wanted to help, so I became a tutor. I guess you could say this is when I first began to realize my potential for helping other people. Math gave me the opportunity to give back to others, and this felt good.
Every day at Good Works, I get to relive that same feeling that I felt when I was 16 years old – how empowering it felt to find my talent and use it to help other people. Even though I’m working in the background; I feel a sense of purpose knowing that I’m using my talents to contribute to something bigger than myself.
Outside of Good Works, you can find me spending time with my two children, Oliver and Emma, hiking, reading, and exploring Ottawa’s local markets.