MOOSE JAW — Volunteering in India allowed Altaf Iqbal Mansuri to develop a commitment to community service, a quality that he put to good use after coming to Moose Jaw for school.
Mansuri moved to The Friendly City in August 2023 to take Saskatchewan Polytech’s business management post-graduate certificate. He also served as vice-president and president of the Sask. Polytech Student Association, joined the 25-member Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Student Council and became a member of Moose Jaw’s youth advisory committee.
Due to his extracurricular and community activities, Sask. Polytech presented him with the outstanding citizenship award during the June 5 convocation ceremony.
“I think this is an honour for me and the efforts I have put into (volunteering) and taking part in association activities,” Mansuri said.
The graduate explained that he started volunteering in India and became “very much interested” in community service and serving and advocating for youths. He acquired experience from these activities, while he learned to understand the different perspectives that students have.
Mansuri’s leadership activities kicked off in 2024 when he joined Sask. Polytech’s Student Association, which he thought was a great choice since he learned how governance worked and acquired strong leadership experience. His knowledge from India also helped when he joined the city’s youth advisory committee and the province’s student council.
He acknowledged that it was tough to balance his academics with his extracurricular activities, but he created a schedule to be aware of what meetings were coming up one week in advance. This decision helped him be “very well-prepared,” especially when classes and committees overlapped.
“And sometimes, yep, a little bit (of an) impact on my academics, but not too much (because) I had balance … ,” he remarked.
The Sask. Polytech graduate said he enjoyed all three committees he joined but singled out the institution’s Student Association and the city’s youth advisory committee as his best experiences. He appreciated the former because it started his volunteerism in Moose Jaw while he liked the latter because he met many students and learned about their thought processes with the decisions they made.
Meanwhile, Mansuri has had “a wonderful time” living in Moose Jaw for the past 21 months, although he was somewhat apprehensive the first day he arrived. However, residents treated him respectfully, while he became familiar with the community and decided to remain after graduating.
With a chuckle, he said he could move away in the future if an appealing job arose elsewhere — he wants a full-time job in a financial institution or credit union — but planned to live here for the foreseeable future.
“I like this city,” Mansuri added.
