CHICAGO: The Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago (PCS)’s 18th annual “Punjabi Youth Graduation and Scholarships Awards Night” last month at Viceroy of India Banquet Hall, Lombard, Illinois, was a resounding success. PCS scholarships were awarded and the Punjabi class of 2018 graduates were honored. More than 250 attended the celebration.
The celebration included an inspiring keynote address by globally recognized Professor Mohanbir Singh Sawhney, the McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois.
“An enterprise requires a unique product to be successful in the market place, lo and behold you already are unique due to your appearance, family values and hard work ethic, don’t sell it short,” said Sawhney in his keynote address.
Kevindeep Singh Atwal, a Northwestern University and London School of Economics graduate who grew up participating in PCS programs and is a past board member, was the motivating youth speaker and shared his journey to success as a Business Development Program Management professional at a large Bay Area technology company.
Avijit Singh Nandra of Fremd High School Palatine, Illinois, won the first place $1,000 scholarship and Simer Singh of Lake Zurich High School won the second place $750 scholarship.
All the Punjabi class of 2018 graduates were honored and presented with certificates of accomplishment and a cash gift check.
Rajpreet Kaur Dhaliwal was the chief guest. The PCS Scholarship fund and the event was sponsored by Mohina Ahluwalia in the memory of Diljit Singh Ahluwalia; Dr. Diljeet Kaur Singh and Dr. Karamjeet Kaur Singh in the fond memory of their father Dr. Pritam Singh; Bhupinder Singh Dhaliwal; Kevindeep Singh Atwal; Harinder Singh M.I.T.S.; Jasbir Singh Bhalla; Amrit Mittal; Gurdeep Singh Nandra; Dr. Jasvinder Singh Chawla, and Surinder Kumar Jain of Viceroy of India Banquets.
Punjabi cuisine appetizers and a sumptuous dinner was served. All the participants, young and old relished the food and danced to the bhangra DJ music as a typical Punjabi family celebration.
The participants of “Rangla Punjab 2018,” a PCS Annual Vaisakhi cultural program that took place on March 31 received their appreciation awards. The item coordinators were awarded special gift cards as a token of appreciation for their hard work to prepare the teams for performances.
A cake-cutting ceremony for the graduates was held to honor and celebrate their graduation. The attendees had fun dancing to the DJ music, and networking.
Dr. Bhupinder Singh Saini, Dr. Narinder Singh Grewal and Darshan Singh Dhaliwal have been longtime sponsors for PCS events.
“The purpose of this program is community building. It is to promote higher education among our next generation. Appreciation, encouragement, motivation and professional guidance goes a long way,” said Surinder Singh Palia, P.C.S. President.
An independent panel of judges selects the scholarship winners from the applicants according to a marking criterion established by PCS, which is based on academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and community service volunteering.
The program was organized by Surinder Singh Palia, Bikram Singh Chohan, Parvinder Singh Nanua, Manjeet Singh Bhalla, Raibrinder Singh, Pardeep S. Deol, Sukhmel Singh Atwal, Mohinderjit Singh Saini, Vick Singh, Gurmit S. Dhillon, Surinder Singh Sangha, Balwinder S. Girn, Ronny Kular, Amarjit K. Atwal, Bhinder Pamma, Parminder Singh Ghotra, Yadwinder Singh Grewal, Onkar S. Sangha, Jasbir S. Palia, Paul Lail, Raj Dhaliwal, and Rajinder Singh Mago with the help of several volunteers.
The Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit community service organization devoted to promoting Punjabi culture, language, performing arts, healthy life style, sports, education, and good citizenship in the metropolitan Chicago area and beyond.
For more information:
PUNJABI CULTURAL SOCIETY of CHICAGO,
P.O. Box 1244 , Palatine , IL 60078
Ph: 847-359-5727, e-mail to info@PCSChicago.org
PCS website http://www.pcschicago.org/
F.B.: Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago https://www.facebook.com/pcschicago/
