Himanshu Mehta says volunteering is ‘happiness.’ “When I volunteer – when I help someone and see that smile – I melt down. I feel so happy,” he says. Winning 2022 Young Volunteer of the Year for his region of Sydney has helped him spread the word about volunteering. “After the award, I started being approached on LinkedIn,” he says. “It built my professional networks, and students started wanting to know more about the award program and how they could get involved in volunteering. Now I have an opportunity to meet Lord Mayor Clover Moore at Sydney Town Hall. It’s an event for international students. I’ll represent UTS international students and share my experiences in Australia.”
Building connections and making friends
His volunteering experience began at UTS College, where he was studying for his Diploma of Engineering. As a newly arrived international student, looking for ways to make new friends, he joined the team of student helpers. “I helped with campus tours and things like that,” he says. “That’s when I started building connections and there are so many good memories. I think my favourite memory is helping with a Diwali event – it’s an Indian celebration with lots of lights and stuff – and they asked me because they wanted Indian volunteers.”
He laughs recalling this. Although his family is Indian, Himanshu was born and raised in Tanzania. “My Mum and Dad are from India, and they moved to Tanzania for work. Dad is actually from Punjab, and Mum is from Jammu,” he says. “The school I went to used the Indian syllabus – it was an Indian public school in Tanzania. I grew up in an Indian community and Mum did her best to teach us the culture and the Hindi language. But it’s weird sometimes explaining to people that I have an Indian background but I’m from Tanzania. It can get confusing.”
Finding a pathway and a scholarship
Looking back, Himanshu is glad he began his study pathway at UTS College. “The UTS semester was halfway through when I first applied and they asked me to wait till the next intake,” he says. “I’m a person who doesn’t want to wait, and I found out there was still time to apply for first year at UTS College. I enjoyed that pathway, and I feel privileged to have had the experience. I think you get pampered at UTS College. There’s such good support. If I had any issue with my subjects, I’d ask the student success advisers. There was always good advice and help. Now I’m on a four -year scholarship – the UTS College Pathway Scholarship – and that’s all because of the College.”
Helping others during the pandemic
After successfully completing his diploma, he joined second year of Bachelor of Engineering at UTS. He was keen to do more volunteering, and with the arrival of the pandemic, he found plenty of opportunity. He says, “Things were very crazy at that time. I volunteered with TalkCampus. Students in lockdown all around the world were feeling stressed or emotionally down. As a TalkCampus ‘buddy,’ you chat with them and help them out. I felt good because I was having the same experiences, so I understood. We were given training because there could be some critical situations. You have to know how to respond when a student shares a really personal thing.”
Nothing is impossible
Now in the final stages of Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Himanshu is majoring in software engineering. He sees a world of opportunities. “I believe if you study software engineering, there isn’t any sector you can’t work for,” he says. “If it’s medical, accountancy, finance, marketing, design – everywhere there is software. Software engineering has been a life-changing opportunity for me. I started working as a developer for one company during my internship, then a became a business analyst and worked there for one year. Things changed around from groceries to food partners and restaurant partners. Now I work in the health sector for a company that provides network support to NSW hospitals. Sectors change, but your software skills will still apply.”
He says combining work and study can be challenging but the time-management techniques he learnt at UTS College help him keep things under control. “It’s about balance. There are times to go out and enjoy yourself and there are times to be productive. I say you need both, but if there’s something I want to achieve, that comes first. My priorities are getting my degree, then work, then leisure, sports, going to parties and having fun. If you know your priorities, nothing is impossible,” he says.