Contact:
Sukhi Sangha, sss18@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.9017; Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca

Photos on Flickr

School is officially out this week, but for some students summer is a time to play catch-up on lessons not quite learned. With that in mind Simon Fraser University student Sukhi Sangha opens his home to dozens of youths needing some extra help over the summer break.

The third-year health sciences student runs Sangha’s Learning Center, a business he began at the age of 19. July and August are shaping up to be busy months as the intrepid businessman heads into his fourth year of operation.

“We have numerous students who would like to prepare for the next grade so that when fall arrives they are focused and comfortable with the curriculum,” says Sangha, recently chosen as one of the Surrey Board of Trade’s top 25 under 25.

Sangha hires tutors who work one-on-one with students and spends the bulk of his time communicating with parents and tutors and dealing with administrative tasks.

He also has an on-call special assistant to work with students with autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD), and other learning disabilities.

Sangha, who grew up as part of a minority culture in rural Scotland and still sports a Scottish drawl, also acts as mentor. He and his staff focus on instilling confidence in students.

Besides running a busy learning center, Sangha is also working this summer as a research assistant with SFU health sciences professor Pablo Nepomnaschy and lab manager Katrina Salvante. The researchers are working to a find a correlation between stress and its effects on women's ovarian function.

A volunteer at Surrey Memorial Hospital’s emergency wing and recent finalist for Diversecity’s Youth Entrepreneur Award, Sangha also fundraises for cancer research and is donating one dollar for every Facebook “LIKE” received on his website http://facebook.com/slc11 to the BC Cancer Agency. His goal is to reach $1,000.

“The health and well-being of those who live in our communities is so important, and really has become the focus of everything I do,” says Sangha.

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Simon Fraser University: Engaging Students. Engaging Research. Engaging Communities.