We are lucky to have many remarkable employees at the Base Gym. Unfortunately, there comes a time when these young people must leave to go on and do great things! One such staff is Abdelrahman, a member of our Aquatics team. He will be leaving the PSP Kingston team to attend medical school in Ottawa, with the goal of becoming a doctor. You can read his story …
“My name is Abdelrahman, but many of my friends call me Rahman. I’m Egyptian and was raised here in Canada all my life. My parents immigrated when my dad came to complete his PhD in electrical engineering at the University of Calgary. By the time we settled in Kingston for my dad to work at RMC, I was about 2 years old. I went to JE Horton here in Barriefield, then on to Calvin Park, KCVI, and finally attended Queens for their new Bachelor of Health Science program (BHSc). I was very excited to be of the first graduating cohort. I have been working for PSP Kingston since I was 15 years old as a lifeguard, swim instructor, and closer to the end, a lifesaving instructor as well.
My immediate future will involve adjusting to living on my own for the first time. I will be spending the next four years in Ottawa to complete medical school. A lot of people ask me what I want to specialize in, and to be completely honest, I don’t know yet. The only speciality I’m somewhat aware of is Hematology, since my undergraduate research was focused on bleeding disorders. However, I’m more excited to explore everything that medicine has to offer and let things happen naturally.
All I know is that I wanted to be in healthcare ever since high school. It started by falling in love with high school biology and dissections, which led to me choosing a science-based undergrad. My time teaching lessons at PSP made me realize that what brought me the most sense of fulfillment was my interactions with others – watching my students progress and connecting with them individually. When I took that mentality to a hospital and worked as a patient assistant at Providence Care, this was all reaffirmed. I can’t wait to continue doing this as a career.
I will of course miss being goofy and just having fun at the pool. Of course, most of all, I will miss seeing Sue Gauthier (Aquatics Supervisor) every week. She became such a massive mentor; always believing in me, encouraging me to take responsibility and being so open and kind. She breathes so much life into the aquatic world here [at PSP Kingston] and I can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done for me over the past 6 years.”
Good luck to Rahman! His future is bright!