My mother always discouraged me from studying. She said, ‘We are not the ruling class, we are working people, why are you studying? They are never going to give you a job even if you are educated.’ She even burnt my books a few times. She had been married at the...
When I first came to Australia, I never felt like I belonged. No matter how much I tried, there was always something missing. I didn’t know what it was. Then, a few months ago, I went back to Iraq. I was very excited. I thought I would be going to a place where I...
In 2005, everyone in the whole of Iraq wanted to leave except for me! I was only in Year 9, but I knew I wanted to be a doctor, and I thought it would be too hard to study in a different language if we were resettled in a Western country. Studying was my life. At that...
Initially, I came to Australia just to study English for 6 months. But my brother was just about to start uni in Colombia and I still had a year to go in my IT degree, and I knew it would be too much financially for my parents to have 2 kids at uni at the same time,...
When I was 17, I was in a band and wanted to be a musician, but my father wanted me to be an engineer, so I went on to get a degree in Civil Engineering, and a Masters in Construction Management. As soon as I finished, I decided to leave Iraq. We Christians were never...
My first job was with the Taipei City Government Department of Environmental Protection. But I don’t think I’m too good at working with government – sometimes I’m more loyal about doing the right thing than being loyal to my boss! So, after that, I formed my own...
