From struggles to success: The story of Krish Manojbhai Patel
Fourth-year student Krish Manojbhai Patel shares his journey moving from India to Canada in search of more opportunities.

Opportunity. A word we use, but often take for granted. An opportunity does not guarantee a certain outcome. For instance, a job opportunity does not guarantee a job. However, it offers a real possibility. It gives you something to work toward. A tangible goal you can achieve with dedicated effort.

Sometimes, an opportunity does not pan out and you get rejected. Sometimes, you are scared of getting that opportunity because of the fear of failure so you find yourself holding back. But what if you seized every opportunity? What if you took the plunge and you succeeded? Krish Manojbhai Patel, a fourth-year computer science specialist at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) certainly did. In an interview with The Medium, Krish shares his story about how he succeeded as an undergraduate student.

At a crossroads: deciding between domestic and international education

Krish comes from Vadodara, a city in Gujarat, India. His journey began after tenth grade when he was at a crossroads to decide whether he should remain in India or he should study abroad for the remainder of his studies. “I had to make a decision. In India, to be honest, there aren’t many opportunities in the field of computer science or software engineering. In addition, it was also very competitive,” Krish recounts.

In India, students are required to complete the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) if they wish to enter some of the country’s engineering universities, colleges and institutes, including computer science programs. In 2024, the Indian Institute of Technology, which ranks among the top 10 toughest exams in the world according to Shiksha, has a pass percentage of 26.77 per cent.

Krish admits that even if he invested a couple of years in preparing for the JEE, there was a good chance he would not get accepted into the university he wanted. Even if he worked hard, he believed it was more likely he wouldn’t get the opportunity he wanted. As a result, Krish decided to apply abroad. After he got accepted into UTM, Krish travelled halfway across the world in search of better opportunities.

Overcoming the challenges of the first semester

“My first year was my hardest year so far,” Krish reveals. “I was new in Canada, and I started to work part-time as well.” For Krish, having a job while being in school is crucial. “One thing I knew when I came to Canada was that I had to help my family financially. No matter what. I have to work all the time, and help them as much as I can.”

Krish’s first job was at a Tim Horton’s franchise near his home. “I usually worked 20 hours,” Krish says, “10 hours each on Saturday and Sunday.” Krish’s work did not make it easy for him to study during the weekends, so his only option was to study after school. Even that time was compromised by his three-hour commute from Brampton to Mississauga. “Most of my time went into commuting, and as a result, my [academic performance] suffered.”

By his second semester, Krish figured out how to manage his schedule and found himself taking on more opportunities. He managed his time and eventually got the ball rolling. Rather than succumbing to the pressure, Krish was flourishing after figuring out a plan for himself. Krish took on more jobs in addition to his current workload.  

Quality with quantity

When asked about his hobbies, Krish replied that he spent time as a teaching assistant for three courses while already taking seven courses. “I don’t want to be distracted,” Krish explains, “I want to spend my time learning something new, like working part-time, being a teaching assistant, teaching kids how to code, doing some research, or making a side project for programming.”

Despite his heavy workload, Krish doesn’t sacrifice quality either. With all three courses, he makes it a point to provide the best care possible by teaching students tips and tricks he gathered from his own experiences in learning. Before every midterm and final exam, he would post extra office hours for last-minute questions, and give students detailed study guides to help them practice.

“As a teaching assistant, I believe it’s my job to use my own experiences to [enhance] students’ experience with the course,” Krish elaborates.

In addition to being a teaching assistant, Krish also worked as a research assistant with the university and is currently participating in the UTM Professional Experience Year Co-op. As part of the program, he is currently doing a 16-month internship with Huawei, a multinational digital communications technology corporation.

“When I first came to UTM, I never [expected] I was going to be a teaching assistant. I never [anticipated] I would do an internship or do any research,” Krish mentions that many of these opportunities came from networking with professors and a lot of hard work.

“Once you do well in one opportunity, you get more opportunities, and you will start to explore your limit. How high can you reach? From my part-time work, I got the opportunity to be a teaching assistant. From my work as a teaching assistant, I got the opportunity to be a research assistant. All of these individual experiences stacked up and [allowed me] to intern at Huawei. I am still exploring my own limits.”

Pushing past the limit

Krish encourages students to get out of their comfort zones and explore their limits. According to Krish, one opportunity can lead to many more. With a sprinkle of hard work and a dash of enthusiasm, Krish believes success is not far off reach for those sharing similar struggles.