Adanan Sharif

Notable School Accomplishment: 2016 Student Body President

Notable Post-School Accomplishments: Began his own start-up and continuing to run it with great success and substantial Canadian government funding.

When did you graduate from HIS?

2016

Where are you from? 

Kitami, Hokkaido

Where are you currently living? 

Toronto, Canada

What is your current occupation? / What are you studying?

President & CEO of Lyrata Inc. (Canadian Agri-Tech company). Starting a Masters of Engineering in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto soon.

What’s your cultural background and/or nationality? 

Cultural background = Bangladesh & Japan, Nationality = Canadian

Why did you choose HIS? 

Closet international school to Kitami and one of the few international schools in Japan with a boarding program.

How many years were you at HIS? 

6 years (7th-12th grade)

What’s one of your favorite memories from HIS?

AdHoc trips (Adventure Hokkaido — the school’s optional outdoor trips)

What was your favorite class, and which class helped you prepare the most after college? 

Mr. Pangier’s literature class and all of Mr. Piazza's math classes

• Why literature class? All professional communication is done via writing. Therefore, knowing how to communicate your thoughts in writing is an effective skill to have in life. Mr. Pangier really hammers you all to become good writers with 5min reflections, readings, and various writing assignments.

• Why calculus class? All careers in STEM require a strong foundation in calculus, statistics, and algebra. Mr. P has truly refined his teaching style to teach key concepts in this field to students in the most effective way possible.

What was your major in college? 

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

What was the most valuable experience you had at HIS and how is that experience continuing to help you today?

Being an only-child, I never learned how to live and exist around others (i.e. sharing, being mindful of others, working as a unit). HIS's dorm life and small-close knit community forced me to learn the social skills necessary to live and work amongst other people with diverse perspectives.

How did your experiences at HIS help you in your adult life?

Like the response above, HIS's small-knit community forces students to excel in conflict resolution and co-working skills which help with the startup environment I work in today.

Which moment in HIS would you like to relive and why? Would you do anything differently?

I would like to relive my 10th grade in HIS. I would've quit basketball and soccer and put in more time and commitment into my powerlifting career. I made Japanese powerlifting nationals and qualified for worlds in 2016 (12th grade). If I pursued the sport earlier, I would’ve gotten the chance to advance my powerlifting career further (i.e. actually compete at worlds) before my university workload ended it all. 

What advice would you like to give to current Huskies about how to make every moment count, during HIS and beyond?

I have yet to make friendships as deep as the ones I made at HIS. At, HIS you are fixed with a small group of people for long periods of time. You wont be forced to interact with other people to this extent anytime else in your adult life. The individuals you befriend in this environment really become family and you will always go back to them to relive your old memories. Cherish your adhoc trips with them, cherish your pep rallies with them, and cherish all the fights with them. You really won’t get a chance to make memories like this again. 

Any advice for Huskies interested in entrepreneurship?

Never innovate in isolation. Inventors have a bad habit of building solutions with minimal user input. The market and your intended users dictate what is the best solution to a specific technical/business problem, not you. That is why it is very important to make trusted connections (i.e. people who won’t share your technology with others) in the industry you are trying to innovate in to rigorously test your product/service and give real-world feedback on your solutions so you focus on improving the details of your product which matter the most.

What would you like to tell Huskies about choosing their life path(s)?

If you are not sure on what degree to pursue. Go into ENGINEERING! Engineers are taught to solve complex problems in time-constrained situations. To be successful in any career in life, you must solve complex problems in time-constrained situations. I have yet to meet an engineer who did not excel in their careers both in STEM/entrepreneurship and outside of those fields. Engineers are true all-rounders.