Study Abroad: ‘We had to learn a lot on our own,’ says student on studying in Australia

By Mahek Trehan

NEW DELHI: Going abroad was a dream that my parents and I nurtured right from when I was in high school. When I was in class 11, I knew I wanted to study architecture and my first choice was the United Kingdom and then other countries in Europe. After completing Class 12, I applied to a number of universities in the United Kingdom and Australia. Although I came close, I could not make it to the United Kingdom I could not. When my name was short-listed for admission to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia in 2021, I was elated – UNSW is among the top 20 universities in the world.

I had to take the admission and start attending classes online as that was a COVID year and restrictions were still in place. I finally came to the Kensington campus on February 4, 2022. I had been looking forward to this very eagerly.

Usually, there are services for students who are reaching the university, but since I reached on a Sunday, these were not available. Despite this, the deputy dean of accommodation at UNSW was ready to welcome me to the campus. She helped me to sort things and settle in my room.

I was lucky enough to get accommodation on the university campus.

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Classes in UNSW

Initially, classes were difficult as we had to learn a lot on our own. I went to school in India where it is more about how much you can mug up and reproduce.

Here at UNSW, a student has to see and learn. I am learning software programmes on my own. They don't spoon-feed me. They don't sit and teach me. I have to do it on my own, which actually helps a lot. This practical learning is what attracted me to studying outside India.

In case of any confusion, we could always reach out to our tutors. Also, peers, seniors, and moodle – where you can pop your questions and somebody else will answer – were of great help.

I have always been in a CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) school and here they follow the International Baccalaureate or IB curriculum way of teaching. So in my first year, I just couldn't get the hang of how to write and present essays properly and how to achieve what my tutors were asking me to.

Balancing job and studies

I applied for accommodation in the main campus in Kensington and I was lucky enough to get it.

Money was an issue – everything is so expensive – and earning money is very important, and knowing how to balance your finances is equally important.

It takes a lot of time to make models and the materials are expensive. Working on software is also time-consuming. I have to wake up and work for long hours at night. I squeeze in two-three hours of sleep before I start working again.

Slowly, I felt the need to start working.

I didn’t not look for a job immediately after arriving in Australia as I wanted to focus on my studies first. Once I became accustomed to life here, I started hunting for casual part-time jobs. At present, I am working with a dental surgeon. And I have been working for almost a year.

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Australia Visa and work hours

While the Australian government has reduced working hours for students, that does not affect me much. I have to balance my work and studies. Now, as per the rule, one can work up to 40 hours a week.

When I will have to work full-time with an architectural firm, it will be an issue. Now, I can work two days in a week but an architectural firm will demand more time.

And it gets tough as I have to complete my assignments also. I make $20 an hour and it changes from time to time. That’s not enough given the expenses I incur. Another problem is that our classes are not fixed for all the terms and so, my job hours also have to be rescheduled that way.

Since I have classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this term, I try to squeeze in work on Mondays and Fridays and sometimes I try to work on Thursdays. Other than that, if the doctor needs me, she calls me specifically for a certain amount of time, but it does not clash with my classes and my assignments, especially during exam week.

These days, I don't work a lot because I need to focus on my assignments. Even if I have to go out for food – which I sometimes feel like when they serve us mutton or beef in the hostel – I have to think twice as the food outside is very expensive.

(As narrated to Pritha Roy Choudhury)