More often than not, living as a migrant means eternally existing in a long-distance emotional marathon. The suitcase is never fully shut, yet old realities must be cast aside even temporarily, to make room for the new: new identities, new cultures, new accents, new rituals and, in my case, predominantly GMO food. .fade-out-overlay { position: absolute; top: -80px; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 60px; z-index: 1; background: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0), rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)); } .paywall-container { position: relative; max-width: 100%; margin: 0 auto; padding: 25px; border: 1px solid #e0e0e0; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 10px rgba(0,…
Author: By Dorcas Mbugua
Kenya is not for beginners – another lesson I learned ‘kwa ground’. I migrated back to Kenya in 2020, reverse migration if you will – I had lived in Australia 13 years by that point, and after slowly and gradually losing a battle with the voices in my head, I tendered my resignation in favour of the unknown, unexplainable forces were pulling me back home. To the untrained eye including my own, my choices made little sense. Worse still, it’s a severely impossible feat to attempt to explain choices resulting from voices that only I can hear. In my case, what I can say for…
A woman studying in the library. [Courtesy/GettyImages] At the time, it was a no-brainer for me, I would take up the offer to remain in Australia for 6 months without breaking the law or breaching visa conditions, so I could think about how I wanted my life to unfold. In those six months, I stayed grounded in my desire to find myself. My identity had been shaken and as a result, my self-esteem gradually eroded. I found no joy in my studies nor my surroundings – I didn’t enjoy even the most basic things like eating – my tastebuds had…
When an international student is granted a visa to study abroad, that visa will usually have conditions imposed. For Australia, those conditions will usually include restrictions on hours of work, and conditions imposed on the mode of study – as a general rule of thumb, international students must attend a minimum of 80 per cent of their classes in person. In 2011, I found myself in a predicament: I had been left inside my head without supervision. The result of this was a failure to attend classes for weeks. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp At the time, I had…
Residential houses in a Rockingham Suburb – Western Australia. [Courtesy/GettyImages] People out here are going about their day-to-day business as usual, but do they know I was almost deported from Australia? Let’s all repeat together – We read, and we don’t judge. As promised last week, I offer a glimpse into my life as an international student in Australia, with my motivation being two-fold: Firstly, I provide information that I wish someone had provided me when I was at the decision-making stage of studying abroad, and that I may serve as a walking cautionary tale and that through sharing experiences, we can use them as…
It was amazing grace that kept me in Australia as an international student. The journey of international education is one that I know very well, having migrated to Australia at the age of 19 to pursue tertiary education in Adelaide, South Australia. I completed my International Baccalaureate in May of 2007 and two months later, I was sat on a single bed in student accommodation on a brutally cold July day in Adelaide – unprecedented chills for this child of Africa. Just like that, it was just me. My mum had travelled with me to Adelaide and stayed the maximum…
A hand signing an agreement form. [Courtesy/GettyImages] The quickest way to know whether an education agent is a legitimate partner for an international education institution (whether college or university), is to search for them on the website of the institution you wish to attend. Most, if not all, Australian universities will have a section on their website with a comprehensive list of all agents they partner with and their regions, together with how to contact them. This process is free – and yet many Kenyans have paid dearly and fell victim to scams by rogue agents. Certain regions in the country have…