I can still remember my first day in English class here. Our teacher told us we could do whatever we wanted in Australia, as long as we really wanted it, and put in the effort. Then she asked us all, ‘What would you like to do?’ And I was just sitting and looking at...

I met my husband at the airport in Dubai while I was travelling for work. We stayed in touch, and soon our friendship developed into a long-distance relationship. Three months later, he came from Australia to visit me in Morocco. And after two years, we got married! I...

When I was 10 years old, the decision was made for me to leave behind my parents and five sisters to escape Afghanistan with my uncle and cousin. At that time, the Taliban had taken over, and because our family was Hazara, there...

Until I was 13 years old, the only thing I experienced in my country was war. However, after the Taliban was removed from power in 2001, we had peace for a few years, and many development projects were implemented in Afghanistan. More schools opened everywhere, and...

I came to Australia from Bangladesh on a partner visa. Because I had a diverse background working with multinational companies in IT and a master’s degree from Thailand, I didn’t think it would be difficult to find a job here. However, although I was able to get a few...

I grew up in a small Mon village in Myanmar. It was very far away from the city, but it was not a safe place. The military often came and took our food, or forced us to do free labour for them. They did it to my grandfather, they did it to my father and then, when I...

There was a veterinary exam I could take to be allowed to work in Australia, but I had heard it was really difficult. It would test everything I had learnt in my entire five-year degree, which I had done not only 15 years earlier, but also in Italian. And it would...

I thought my English would be fine in Australia, but as soon as we arrived, I had to face a new reality. My husband’s friend came to pick us from the airport, and although I was trying my best to understand what he was saying and the jokes he was making, I couldn’t...

To escape the war in Syria, I needed to get a passport. So every day, from 6am till 5pm, I would patiently stand in line outside the immigration office. This was highly stressful because at that time cannons and machine guns were being fired from the top of the...

By the time I finished medical school, riots and chaos were constant in Venezuela. Sometimes I felt like I was trapped in George Orwell's 1984! For example, I needed to trade things with my colleagues like toilet paper or deodorant. And we didn’t even have basic...