[img_inline align=”” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/nasim_isma_web.jpg” caption=”DeGroote graduate Isma Nasim.”]While still in high school, Isma Nasim was diagnosed with a visual impairment.

“My retina has scarring on it, so I can only see from certain parts of my eye,” she explains. “I can't see by simply looking straight ahead, so I have learned to move my eyes around in order to get the whole picture.”

Despite her low vision, visual impairment has not stopped Nasim from living her life.

Today, she will accept her Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from the DeGroote School of Business with a minor in economics after six years of part-time study. Nasim finished her final course in June and has since been working toward obtaining a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation.

“I decided to focus my studies on human resource management because I'm a people person,” she says. “A career in any area of HR, like recruitment and selection, training and development or strategic management and labour relations, will allow me to interact with and help people on a daily basis.”

Helping and giving back to others is something Nasim is very passionate about. “I belong to a culture where disability awareness is really, really low,” she explains. “So I'm in the process of starting an organization with some friends that caters to helping Asians living with disabilities, physical or mental. I want to give people with disabilities a platform and raise awareness, so that their families can see that their children can be successful.”

Nasim is also an advocate of McMaster's Accessible Career Transition (ACT) Program, which helped her secure her first job last year. Facilitated by Career Services, ACT is a program that helps current students and recent alumni with disabilities gain work experience through the creation of equal employment opportunities on campus and with external organizations.

Her years at DeGroote may have been challenging, but Nasim looks back on her experience with pride. “This degree isn't just an educational achievement for me. It's a personal achievement as well. I learned so many things about myself that I never would've learned if I hadn't come to DeGroote,” she says. “I gained strength and independence, I gained the confidence I needed to be open about my disability and work through challenges. But above all, I learned that if I believe in myself, I can accomplish anything.”