Finding Her Place

When Harminderjeet “Harminder” Kaur (B.S. ’22) was applying to universities, she knew she wanted to go out of state for college. “I wanted to learn to be independent and experience the real world by myself,” says the California native. When it came down to choosing between several out-of-state schools, though, New York Tech was the most attractive to her.

Kaur says that the professor-to-student ratio at New York Tech was one of its biggest draws, and it has paid off. “The faculty at New York Tech is really helpful and are dedicated to helping students succeed,” says Kaur, whose dream job is to work as an aerospace engineer for NASA. “[New York Tech] gave me the education, obviously, but also gave me a lot of research opportunities.” She also wants to pursue a Ph.D. in engineering management but says that it’s something she plans to do further in the future.

But for Kaur, the support she felt at New York Tech went beyond the classroom. She says the Office of Student Life helped her take on leadership positions, including vice president of the sorority Kappa Phi Gamma and president of Think Sikh. She says the events she helped organize for Think Sikh are some of her favorite memories. “We hosted the biggest event at Tech, called the Bhangra Blowout. We had a famous urban desi singer named Mickey Singh perform. Seeing the event come to life was great, and we received a Student Life award for Best Event of the Year,” she says.

She also served as the university’s social media ambassador, creating content showcasing what it was like taking classes, participating in extracurricular activities, and maintaining a work-life balance.

Kaur says that she was nervous about starting school at first but thinks every student should get involved. “Take any opportunity you get to join organizations and take on leadership positions because it will really help you feel involved on campus,” she says. “You may want to just go home after your classes but don’t! Getting involved allowed me to make lifelong friendships.”