A story from Eun Jeong Ji, she came from Korea to Deakin Nursing with a prior qualification of Registered Nurse from Korea, with this she was granted CPL for 16 credit points.

Samuel designs cars, prints in 3D and learns to surf

Hi, my name is Samuel Pardi and I am from Venezuela. I came to Australia wanting to achieve a higher level of education and to have international experience in the design industry.

On my trip to these goals I started with 10 weeks of English for Academic Purposes at the Waterfront Campus in Geelong. I was eager to experience new situations and cultures, and I feel I was blessed for choosing an English course in Geelong. DUELI in Geelong offers small classes that allow for more interaction between students and the lecturer. I met very fun and easy-going people from different cultures that I still am in contact with.

I have to say that I felt sad to leave the English course behind because I was so comfortable there, and the staff were so friendly and awesome. However, starting a master’s was an important experience for me to start developing new skills that made me feel more self-aware of my abilities in the engineering field. For instance, I had to design the suspension of a university race car within a team, and coming up with a working solution and seeing the real-life application was a boost to our confidence. Now I am keener to have an opportunity in the design industry in Australia.

I cannot say my master’s has been an easy course but I like it so far. I have improved in areas that I thought were not possible to improve, such as my communication skills and my leadership skills. Of course, I have chosen subjects that I feel will have more impact in my career, such as Engineering Leadership. Right now, I am doing my engineering project on 3D printing of titanium, which is highly related to the aerospace and biomedical industries. I am also preparing to apply for an internship for Trimester 1 of 2016. I hope to get the opportunity to start experiencing industry-related projects and to start showing my abilities as an engineer, especially the skills that I have developed at Deakin.

With my previous experience in Venezuela and an internship in Australia, more and better opportunities are around the corner for new and challenging positions within competitive industries. Nevertheless, participating in research and development teams, and being able to influence others with my personality and experience are one of my short-term objectives. As a long term-objective, I would like to create my own company with some ideas that I have developed during my master’s, and also influence society with products that are sustainable and sensible to community needs.

Although studying is important, having fun and enjoying life is what motivate us. So I also decided to try to surf and experience that environment. Of course, some of my friends were having a laugh at me because I was falling all the time. It is not as easy as it seems. But I definitely enjoy surfing, and I am going to keep trying this summer.

I want to conclude this post by telling you that anything is possible. I come from a developing country with a poor economy. I did not have many resources but I have kept fighting for my goals. I have been working part-time, studying, practicing English every day, and I still have time to enjoy my weekends and get good grades.

For further information about studying at Deakin and to view the many degrees on offer, visit our international student page. Or ask us a question by visiting our international student enquiry page – we’re happy to help you get to know Deakin better.

There are several things I love to talk about in life: family, food and Australia. A year and a half ago I decided to depart on the adventure of a lifetime and so I packed up and moved from the small town of Otterburne, Manitoba, Canada to Geelong, Australia. In my mind I had decided that if I was going to go anywhere, I wasn’t going to go just half way across the world, but rather, all the way! So now I am a second year medical student at Deakin University and I have completely fallen in love with Australia.

To be honest, I had always been a homebody; however, after living in a small town for most of my life, I decided to see what else was out there. I had always wanted to become a doctor and I decided to mix my passion for medicine with my newly discovered passion for travel.

At the Deakin University Waurn Ponds Campus

After many hours researching on the internet and filling out what seemed to be a million applications to different universities in Australia, I was accepted into the Deakin School of Medicine’s Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery degree. To be honest, there may have been some screaming and jumping on my bed when I found out. For me, going to Deakin University just made sense. The staff at Deakin that helped me with my application process were so helpful and supportive. I loved that the Deakin School of Medicine was rurally focused and put a lot of effort into recruiting students from a variety of academic backgrounds, cultures and countries.

"For me, going to Deakin University just made sense. The staff at Deakin that helped me with my application process were so helpful and supportive."

Some beautiful views at my campus

So several months, a costly ticket, and one very large suitcase later, I was off to Australia! Coming to Australia has been the most amazing and terrifying experience of my life. I did not know a single person, so it was a big adjustment getting settled. However, it took very little time for me to make new friends. Australians are such welcoming people and everyone that I met helped me feel at home.

Australians are such welcoming people and everyone that I met helped me feel at home. The best part of living and studying in Australia is the weather and the beaches. Coming from the middle of Canada, where there is no ocean and it’s horribly snowy and cold for 5 months of the year, it still amazes me that I can just go to the beach and walk in the ocean at any time of the year.

The surf coast just past Torquay

When I’m not studying, there are so many things to do, whether that be going to the surf coast, exploring nature, going into Geelong or Melbourne. There are so many good cafés and restaurants in Melbourne, and there is an amazing Canada Day celebration every 1st of July! It’s also so easy to travel within Australia and I have visited both Tasmania and Perth so far.

Vineyards along the Tamar River, just outside Launceston, Tasmania

Watching the sun disappear into the ocean at the iconic Cottesloe Beach in Perth, Western Australia

I still have 2.5 years left in Australia, and while there are days that I miss home, I have never regretted my decision. The experiences I have had studying at Deakin and living in Australia are some of the best I have ever had. I cannot wait to see what the rest of my time at Deakin has in store for me!

Boarding at the Geelong College was the most amazing and unforgettable experience I've ever had. Being away from home (Jakarta, Indonesia) surely was not an easy thing to do, but it was very easy to call The Geelong College my new 'home'. In an instant, the people I met became my new family –family from all around Australia and all over the world. The friends I've made are now friends for life. We went through almost everything together. We laughed and cried together. When you're homesick, there will always be friends to cheer you up, and they all know how you feel. I learned everything from becoming independent to becoming a leader. I developed my love of baking and cooking in the boarding house kitchen. On year 12 I was voted as one of the girl's boarding house prefect.

The Geelong College provides quality formal education, and it pushes the students capacities/abilities to the limit. I enjoyed learning music. I have always enjoyed music. The Geelong College gave me so much chance to improve and be involved in music. Music lessons were provided at school, and of course I took that opportunity to learn to sing, play the guitar and drums. I also joined the school's Stage Band where I could channel my love of Jazz. I won several 'Best Vocals' with them. Upon learning music as a subject, I was chosen to sing at the VCE Top Class in 2012, an event to showcase students from all over Victoria who had a high score on their music performance exam. It started from singing in my little room, to singing in front of over 900 people. It was such a big achievement for me, as I was once a shy girl who wants to sing but didn't have the stomach to be heard.

The Geelong College has really helped me become the better and improved person I am today. I cannot express how very grateful I am of the people I met, of the experience and of the opportunity. I am now studying film at Deakin University, working on starting an online patisserie, and I still sing.