Aman Bhalla has always loved geography. Growing up in India, he would pore over books depicting other countries and cultures, hungry to learn about different people and explore the world.
“Computer science was never on my radar, ever,” Aman remembers, reflecting on how his parents always stressed that his education should lead to a good job. “My passion was geography, but my parents thought there weren’t enough good career prospects,” he says with a chuckle.
On a whim, he took an IT course in middle school and, progressing quickly through the concepts and applications, decided to pursue computer science proper in high school.
Choosing Canada; choosing Dal
Aman didn’t leave his love of geography behind entirely — he says it’s a big part of the reason why he chose to study in Canada, along with a sense of cultural curiosity. “I wanted to go somewhere and start fresh; learn how to survive, adapt, and understand a different culture all by myself,” he explains.
Having nurtured an interest in cybersecurity through his high school studies, Aman says Dal's Computer Science program, combined with Halifax’s diverse culture and proximity to the ocean, sealed the deal.
- Every graduate has a story. This is one of them. Follow along as we share more each day throughout Spring Convocation.
First-year struggles
In a tale familiar to many international students, Aman struggled to engage with his peers and feel connected to his professors and coursework during that first year. He lived off campus and found Halifax winters to be somewhat greyer and more depressing than he had anticipated.
“I was stuck at home a lot because of the weather, and I started skipping lectures and labs,” he says. The Canadian winter and homesickness were taking their toll. Across nearly 21 years at various levels of schooling, he’d never once failed a class — until that first year at Dalhousie.
Aman went back home to India for the holiday break, believing he was done with Dal, and done with Canada.
“My mother convinced me to give it one more semester,” he says. Wanting to make her proud, he agreed to stick it out until the end of his first year.
At that winter’s Snowball Gala, Aman was seated beside an upper-year CS student, and they watched as Professor Raghav Sampangi received an award for teaching excellence. The student advised Aman to take any courses he could from Dr. Sampangi, and Aman took that advice to heart.
Student roles in Faculty, societies and ShiftKey Labs
When selecting his courses for his second year, Aman decided to re-take the course he had failed the previous semester. When he saw that Dr. Sampangi was the teacher this time around, he went for it (despite the “brutal” Friday at 8:30 a.m. class time).
“I'm not kidding, the second I stepped into that first class with Raghav, I made up my mind to stay. He had me,” Aman recalls.
After completing the course, he became its Head Teaching Assistant and held the position for over two years until his graduation.
Aman had also met his assigned student mentor, Sahil Chawla, in his first year through the international student mentorship program Together@Dal, and Chawla played a big part in getting Aman to explore more opportunities like ShiftKey Labs.
And that, Aman says, changed everything.
“My role as a Head TA and working with ShiftKey Labs have been some of the most instrumental parts of my growth over the past four years” Aman says.
Planning programming, teaching courses, and becoming a mentor himself helped Aman make meaningful connections in the Faculty. “It really got me to approach situations as a collective, not as an individual,” he says.
Internship > work experience > Google
As a Bachelor of Applied Computer Science student, Aman had to complete two internships to gain real-world experience in the field of tech.
Given his penchant for cybersecurity, and with encouragement from Dr. Sampangi, he secured two separate internships with the Canadian government in a cyber-focused role.
Toward the end of his second internship, Aman and two of his colleagues set up a little challenge. They wrote the names of three companies they considered dream employers, and each picked one to apply to: Microsoft, Amazon, Google.
Aman selected Google. He never expected to hear back.
Not only did Aman get an interview for a junior security architect position, but after acing multiple rounds or interviewing and testing, he was offered a senior security architect position instead.
Convocation and next steps
When he graduates, he says the first feeling will be relief, but a close second will be gratitude.
“All the effort, not just from me, but from my family, my close friends, Raghav, and all the folks I have connected with over the years concludes,” Aman says. “They all helped me cross that stage. I just hope I made them proud.”