If there’s one thing Anushka Jindal says she loves, it’s giving advice.
“Sometimes it’s unsolicited, and people obviously don’t like that,” she said, laughing. “But sometimes I can’t help it.”
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, she has the perfect occasion — and excuse — to offer some words of wisdom without fear of reproach as this year’s graduate speaker during the Adler University Vancouver Commencement Ceremony at The Orpheum.
One of the pieces of advice Jindal wants to remind her fellow graduates is simple: Do not put limits on your own potential. Their newly earned degrees are about to, if it hasn’t, open doors.
“A lot of people see commencement as the end of a journey,” said Jindal, who completed the Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology program. “But remember, to ‘commence’ means to begin. We are celebrating the start of something beautiful.”
New beginnings are something Jindal is familiar with, especially in the last five years.
In 2019, she left her hometown of Delhi in northern India and moved south to Bangalore to pursue her bachelor’s degree in psychology. Three years later, she relocated 7,000 miles across the world as an international student to the Vancouver Campus. While there, she helped launch the Adler International Association, an on-campus group dedicated to addressing the needs of her fellow international students.
And this month, Jindal started a new professional journey as a sales optimization consultant for a Vancouver-based company.
“I’ve very much still in training,” she said. “But I can already see how I can apply my I/O psychology experiences at Adler to optimize team dynamics. I’m very excited for this new chapter.”
‘This was the path’
Jindal’s interest in psychology came very early, when she was in fourth grade and learning about it from an older childhood friend.
“She explained it in very simple terms that it was the study of human behavior and mind,” she said. “I remember being drawn to that.”
But what led her to the field of I/O psychology was a talk with her father, who had a long career in business management and leadership.
“I was curious about the idea of applying his professional background and legacy to my love for psychology,” she said. “That’s when everything just became clear to me. I can work in a business environment and still apply psychology to impact the well-being of others. This was the path I wanted to take.”
In 2022, that pathway led her to Adler University, which she chose for its mission of positively impacting communities and our society.
“That was something new and different from the other programs I found,” she said.
A sense of community
The past two years at Adler have been filled with highlights for Jindal. This includes her Social Justice Practicum experience, where she served as a community well-being facilitator at A Better Life Foundation, a nonprofit that empowers and advocates for those experiencing food insecurity.
“No one should have to sit alone and eat,” said Jindal, whose role included training volunteers. “People can form bonds over food. So we didn’t just feed people, we invited them to form a community with each other.”
Although Jindal completed the required 200 practicum hours in six months, she has since continued to regularly volunteer for the group two years later.
“I’ve formed so many great relationships there,” she said. “I’m so lucky and feel so grateful to Adler for that experience.”
Another highlight is leading the creation of the Adler International Association. From homesickness to navigating a new city, international students often face unique challenges. She served as its president for three terms.
The Association provides international students the space to talk about their experiences, share their customs and culture, and receive professional development opportunities.
“Through the association, we’ve created a group that gives us a sense of community during our time at Adler,” said Jindal.
Celebrating the big and small successes
The biggest life lesson Jindal said she’d like to share on the commencement stage is another simple piece of advice: recognize and celebrate your successes, however tiny they may seem.
“Yes, completing our program is a significant achievement,” she said. “But to me, successes happen in many small occurrences throughout the day. We have to remember to give value to those moments.”
For commencement, she’s celebrating beyond the day of with two people flying thousands of miles to attend. And after the ceremony, she will join her cohort for lunch with one of her favorite professors — Michal Fedeles, Ph.D., who is flying from Portugal to attend the ceremony.
But the rest of time will most likely be spent with another special visitor — her mother.
“It was supposed to be a surprise, but I found out she’s coming,” Jindal said. “I haven’t seen her in a year, so seeing her is worthy of a celebration itself. I’ll introduce her to my friends, explore the city, and maybe, I too, can get some life lessons and advice from her.”