Feature
The Plights of International Students in Sydney
-Oh Mum, Where Art Thou!
Amrita Makin Islam
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Officer, do you have any idea what is written here? |
Thousands of students from different corners of the globe come to Sydney every year for university education. While this city provides a great range of opportunities for international students, they also have to face a great number of difficulties like expensive public transport and accommodations exacerbated by imposed limited working hours.
Majority of the international students studying in Sydney come from South East Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. These students are accustomed to close family structures and while the excitement of being thousands of miles away from their parents is liberating, the pangs of homesickness is worsened by the daily pressures of university work and the expensive cost of living .
Gofran Rabbi Chowdhury, an Accounting student from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) says, “I barely earn $200 a week, all of which is spent on rent and public transport, I hardly have any money left for myself and I don't even have the option of working longer hours. It's extremely frustrating.”
Students come to Sydney for higher education as it is reputed to be one of the most exciting cities in the world. Instead of living their glorious years in fun and freedom, they are shackled into a never ending cycle of homesickness, stress from studying and constant struggle to make ends meet. In the end, they are left longing for their homeland and families, and when it is time for them to go back they have slaved away their youth without
enjoying it.
E mail: amrita_makin@hotmail.com
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