One of the best parts of working in international education is getting to meet students from all over the world and hearing their stories. Recently I had the opportunity to meet Mpho, a South African student on an Australia Awards scholarship who just completed a Master of Public Health at our South Bank campus.
We caught up with Mpho to film her arrival story, 2 weeks out from her departure back home. Recalling her first day and the culture shock she felt arriving to Nathan’s forest surrounded campus, Mpho demanded to be taken back to the airport to fly home immediately! Reflecting on her experience two years on, the forest that intimidated her on arrival is one of Mpho’s favourite places. She’s even become part of a regular bushwalking group!
A result of her own experience, Mpho joined together with fellow Australia Awards students to form AusComm, a community which aims to not only facilitate intercultural exchange, knowledge sharing and community building, but to also link new Australia Awards students with current students to assist them in their own arrival and integration into the Australian way of life.
Throughout her time in Australia, Mpho has been passionate about giving back to the Australian community, volunteering for a number of organisations including Queensland Leukaemia Foundation, Cerebral Palsy League and the Ethnic Communities Council Queensland where she shared her knowledge and experience in public health to deliver presentations to women from her home region.
These are just a few of the amazing moments that Mpho shared with me on the day. Stay tuned to see the final video coming soon! In the meantime, check out some of our behind the scenes photos from the video shoot:
A big thank you to Mpho for sharing her story and also to her friends for being a part of the video shoot on the day.
Until next time,
– Christy
