by Amber Sandhu
Being a child of immigrant parents and having experienced racism in his childhood, MP Shaun Chen of Scarborough North expresses how he resonated with Herbert H. Carnegie’s story and knew the Future Aces Creed scholarship was the right fit for him.
“It was an incredibly positive and inspiring message, and I was of course so happy they selected me as one of the award and scholarship recipients and I proudly have that Future Aces Creed they gave me, back in 1999.” expressed MP Chen.
“The passion I had to advocate issues like equity, and anti-racism and to really be engaged in that work. I found it difficult in the program that I was in. Ultimately I transferred schools and finished my degree at the University of Toronto with both computer science and equity studies,” shared MP Shaun Chen.
He goes on to say that by following your passion, you will notice the drive, leadership skills that come in ways you might not be aware of when pursuing your interest
In spring of 2006, MP Chen began his interviewing journey as a newly graduated university student. After flying back from a job interview in the states he thought to himself he could either take on one of these amazing job offers from different tech companies or run for the municipal election taking place in November 2006.
With any life changing experiences, the initial thought for a child is to share the idea with their parents which is what MP Shaun Chen did. He shares with his parents his interest in running for School Board Trustee. As parents they began to question the financial factors of the position, but MP Chen reassured them that it was just an outside of the box idea and that if all fails he would continue to pursue his career in programming.
After downplaying the idea, his parents remind him that, “Shaun, remember you are Chinese,” MP Shaun Chen looks back at that conversation and understands why they said that.
“They were not at all discouraging me, in fact they were my best canvassers. They were reminding me of how difficult it would be for me to pursue a career in a field where few people like me exist.”
As immigrant parents Mr and Mrs. Chen wanted their son to be successful financially in their careers and the challenge MP Chen took on was considered risky and felt a sense of not belonging but with the support from his family and his parents being his biggest champions, MP Shaun Chen went on to winning the election. This being his first winning position as Toronto’s School Board Trustee in 2006 representing Scarborough- Rouge River.
He shared advice for the younger generation looking to pursue post-secondary careers and entering the next chapter in their lives.
He advises to “strive to improve yourself, build a strong sense of who you are. There are skills and different fields and knowledge you will require from your former education but your character is what will get you through any situation. We don’t necessarily teach these things, we know we value them,” he goes on to say that “seek opportunity to build your character, strengthen who you are because we need that next generation of leaders that are going to be bringing forward the change in humanity and need people with good character.
MP Shaun Chen says he learned his hard working characteristics from his hard working immigrant parents. He says that his dedication to his work comes from that and to serving others well.
“I am very well aware of the position I am in and I am grateful for the opportunity to be in an elective position..” “We are in a minority parliament, the short term goal is to continue to do what we need to do, to ensure that Canadians have a government that has their back. My goal is to constantly put myself in the shoes of others that have lived experiences that they have and to do our best to develop the types of programs and policies that address the needs of Canadians.”