Samina Yasmin

At NorQuest, confidence is the secret ingredient to success

From new Canadian to new business owner in five years.

Thanks to an atmosphere where instructors view students as partners in education, NorQuest alumni like Day Home Provider graduate Samina Yasmin have been given the tools and confidence to succeed in the workplace.

“When we first came here, we had nothing in our hands,” says the 45-year-old who arrived in Edmonton with a husband and five children in 2011 from Pakistan. “But when you want something, we have to make ourselves strong and that’s what I did.”

Now a licenced day home practitioner, Yasmin’s NorQuest education was her source of strength during a time that was very difficult. Not long after arriving in Canada, her husband fell ill and was unable to look for work in his profession as a civil engineer. Faced with no income and a family to care for, Yasmin took control and went back to school.

She began English as a Second Language classes and worked her way up to the Day Home Provider program in just two years. She credits her instructors for helping her to remain focused when it could have been easy to give in.

“NorQuest helped me a lot. As a newcomer to Canada I didn’t know how to communicate with others effectively here. Now, my education has given me a lot of experience and knowledge to succeed in business.”

Yasmin also benefited from the help of a valued NorQuest partner. The Servus Credit Union Women in Business Bursary provides graduates of the program a financial boost when starting their own day home.