Student Voice

Cultural Storytelling

Please find below, an inspirational story from one of our talented students.

An Immigrant Story

I remember when I moved to Australia with a bag full of hope and a head full of uncertainties. On the trip I met many immigrants from my own country, which made me relate to them in many ways, all of them full of dreams and willing to risk everything to have a minimal chance of winning, just as I did and continue to do. On this path, things have not been easy because once you leave there is no place on earth where you truly feel like you belong, like you once did in that place you used to call home, not even there.

The questions that I remember most came to mind were, what if I am not able to learn English? What if they don't accept me? What if they don't like me? What if I am not good enough?

Starting from scratch, leaving your friends, your life, your culture, your language, missing out on special dates, watching your mom grow old and your siblings grow up through a phone screen, God, it hurts so much. The process of building a new life is a challenge that I find admirable and terrifying because it is difficult to try to connect with new people, much less trust them and feel accepted, but once I discovered it, things got better somehow. Although acquiring a new language, getting frustrated, and adapting to this new culture have been one of my biggest challenges, I made and still make many mistakes, I can say that there is a rare kind of beauty in making mistakes, learning, and forcing yourself to do better. Likewise, with every little thing you learn and think you have mastered, there are millions more that will leave you back where you started. Just as there is always someone willing to help when necessary.

I could describe the feeling of immigrating as a rollercoaster, sometimes you find yourself at the top and the next second shattered on the ground, but you always somehow find a way to get to the top, you never know when, you never know how, it just keeps repeating itself... I lost count of how many times I found myself on the ground because the feeling of exclusion and not belonging had become strong, but I forced myself to stay knowing that better days would come. 

If it weren't for that risk and all the experiences that came with it, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to become the person I am so proud to be today. Which is a product of everything I have been through, every obstacle and every wonderful person I have been lucky enough to cross paths with. I am prouder than ever of my roots, always with my heritage present deep in my heart and I learned to celebrate and find happiness even in foreign lands, but the most important was, that I am good enough, and I can achieve whatever I want and even to go beyond it.