Volunteer Alumni in Profile: Vishal Varshney

What was your involvement with Youth Central?

I was a member of the Mayor’s Youth Council. During the year, one of our main projects was working on identifying barriers to getting involved and engaging in your community, which culminated in a year-end forum to discuss these issues amongst community leaders and youth. We also had the chance to have a town hall session with the Mayor (and see his pretty cool office!).
 
What did you learn from being a part of Youth Central?

I learned a lot from being a part of Youth Central, particularly about teamwork across so many levels – youth, teachers, community leaders, and government. We all collaborated so well to accomplish so many things, and this could only be done when we recognized the value of our collective strengths. We worked on projects we were all really passionate about, and that made the process so much more enjoyable.
 
Favorite Experience?

My favorite experience would have to be our meetings. I always looked forward to seeing everyone and talking about the projects we were working on. Some of the people I met at MYC have become lifelong friends.
 
What have you been up to since Youth Central?

Since Youth Central, I graduated medical school at the University of Calgary, and am now in Vancouver to finish my residency in anesthesiology. Thanks to my MYC days, I’ve become involved in medical education and advocacy, and am a part of other residency administration councils similar to MYC.
 
Would you be willing to have youth from Youth Central who are interested in your field of study contact you if they had more questions about your school, your work, etc…?

Absolutely! I was fortunate to have people I could talk to when I was at that stage, and I’d be more than happy to pay it forward.
 
Future Goals?

The only goal right now is to stay happy, healthy and well-fed 🙂