A fourth-year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Entrepreneurial Leadership student, Kunal Sharma has not yet graduated and has already begun setting up his first company — an ambitious endeavour that isn’t a surprise to anybody who knows him.

In fact, over the course of his studies Kunal has undertaken several notable projects, including founding Kwantlen Polytechnic Financial Group (Kwantlen’s first officially recognized finance club) as well as a unique website (CoursesAlive.com) that features course descriptions and ratings for approximately 26,000 educational programs offered at more than 150 universities around the world.

“At first, I had planned on transferring to UBC or SFU at the end of my first or second year,” said Kunal, whose hard work and commitment to his studies and community earned him a total of 32 Kwantlen scholarships and awards. “However, as I went deeper into the program, I realized that Kwantlen offered far more than any other university. It provided the right stimuli to bring out my entrepreneurial nature.”

In addition to his start-up projects, Kunal — who recently passed the CFA Level 1 exam and has managed to land on the Dean’s Honour Roll every semester — spent much of his personal time volunteering as a high school tutor, as well as being a web-developer for a local company, which provided him with real-world job experience.

“Taking part in so many activities is not an easy task,” he said. “It would have been much more difficult to maintain my GPA, do volunteer work and participate in extra-curricular activities if I did not receive these scholarships. I believe investment in education is the best gift donors can make to society because it is through these graduating classes that our business leaders will find their future employees. A well-educated society is the foundation for a secure future. Kwantlen’s practical approach caters directly to the needs of the community. Being the focal point of growth in the ever-growing City of Surrey, any investment in Kwantlen is bound to generate above average returns.”

Kwantlen's Melville School of Business is the second largest business school in Western Canada — consisting of over 150 business faculty, and 3,500 students annually who are enrolled in one of the 16 available program options. Awarded the prestigious international accreditation by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), Kwantlen's Melville School of Business meets the rigorous educational standards established by ACBSP and stands as one of the few internationally accredited business schools in B.C.