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Youssef mourtada, 27, is a Syrian and newly welcomed Australian citizen. He travelled to Australia after completing high school in Damascus. The process takes time, dedication and hard work, as he will testify.
Youssef mourtada, 27, is a Syrian and newly welcomed Australian citizen. He travelled to Australia after completing high school in Damascus. The process takes time, dedication and hard work, as he will testify.
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Youssef mourtada, 27, is a Syrian and newly welcomed Australian citizen. He travelled to Australia after completing high school in Damascus. The process takes time, dedication and hard work, as he will testify.
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It is the dream of many young Syrians students to study abroad, to learn a language and boost their career pros- pects. But for all the benefits, the process takes time, dedica- tion and hard work, as Youssef Mourtada will testify.
JOANNE LISINSKA, BALADNA
Youssef Mourtada, 27, is a Syrian and newly welcomed Australian citizen. After completing high school in Damascus he travelled to Lebanon where he gained a bach- elor of commerce degree from the Beirut Arab University in 2003. After he returned to Damascus, Youssef worked in accounts at the Kuwaiti company ‘al-Wazzan’ but after two years made a life changing decision to continue his higher education in Australia. He now holds a Masters in pro- fessional accounting from the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
What was the deciding factor to
travel? Youssef (third from the left) and his friends enjoy a sunny day at Sidney’s infamous beach To live in a country as great as Australia, to get a strong Master’s Another challenge was studying counting and enables students to required by the university and the degree and Australian citizenship. in a different language, but I got obtain recognition by the two peak department of immigration. used to it very quickly. professional accounting bodies in Why did you choose to I got a part time job which helped Australia: CPA Australia and the Explain the process you went migrate? a lot in understanding the job Institute of Chartered Accounting through in selecting a school Economy, the high ranking of the market and a full time job in the in Australia. in Australia and the paperwork country according to the Human finance industry straight after After graduation I worked for the necessary to gain admission. Development Index and better graduation. State Street Financial Services and I My choices were the UK, Australia, higher education quality. I always keep in touch with my now currently work for JP Morgan Canada or the USA. I did a research parents; they are a driving force, in Sydney, one of the world’s on the countries and different uni- What difficulties did you have my courage and my strength. leading investment banks. versities. I liked Australia as a coun- adjusting? try and UNSW offered the course When I first arrived everything Did you integrate immediately What did your family think about that I wanted. was new and interesting, from or were most of your friends you moving so far? In the beginning I had to do a lot of how to catch a train without push- Arab? They were always supportive and extra research, contact the univer- ing ahead, meeting people from I adapt very quickly to most situ- my brothers are now planning join- sities and gather all the documents different cultural backgrounds, ations and for the first year I had ing me here. required for admission and the and trying to make new friends. only non-Arab friends who I met at Australian embassy for the visa. It was challenging for the first six university and through university How was your English when you It took me a while because I was months. activities and that made it easier to arrived? doing the research on my own due Change is never easy. Part of that adapt to the culture. I studied English as a second lan- to the lack of study abroad educa- was starting to build new connec- guage at school and went to the tion agents in Syria, but in the end, tions and friends, while missing Tell us about your course and British Council in Damascus for I got the from the university and family and old friends. why you chose it? some English courses before I pre- started from there to apply for the I got involved in many volunteer The master of professional ac- pared and sat the International visa. I paid the first instalment of activities at university and made counting provides an introduction English Language Testing System tuition fees and got a confirmation lots of friends that way. to business with a focus on ac- (IELTS). I managed to get the score of enrolment, then I applied to the Development 15 15 www.baladnaenglish.com Thursday 18 March 2010
and working abroad
2005 on student visa and ap- dishes! plied for permanent residency after four months as a skilled How do you describe in your migrant. own words the Arab community The application process took in Australia? around nine months after which Syrians form a very small commu- I was granted a permanent resi- nity and I didn’t have the chance dency. After being a permanent to mix with many. The major- resident for two years I was eli- ity of Arabs are Lebanese. Around gible to apply for citizenship 180,000 Australians claim a and I got my Australian citizen- Lebanese ancestry and they make ship and passport on Australia up 2.3 per cent of Sydney’s popu- Day, the 26 January 2009. lation. I met a few Syrian families and some Syrian friends at uni- After immigrating how long versity but most of my friends are did it take you to return to non-Arabs. Damascus? I had to stay in Australia for two What do you love most about years before I visited Syria for the Australia? second time in order to finish the The people, the respect for the two year requirement to gain law, the organisation of urban citizenship. life, the life style, the nature, the When I returned to Syria, I felt so beaches, the weather, respect, many things changed. I realised peace, safety, social security, the how fast I was moving forward in health care system and outdoor Australia and I started to feel the activities available to all. gap getting bigger. Any words of advice for other Will you ever move back? Syrians dreaming to study in Australia is home now. I only really Australia? miss my family and old friends. I Do it. Study hard, migrate, inte- Australian embassy in Beirut for acquiring a find that my future is here. I made grate, and have fun along the the visa and I got it within a couple permanent Australian some great friends in Sydney who way, achieve your goals and most of months. residency. have become my second family. importantly achieve them with How long did you study for? I graduated in 2007 and got a happiness. Let Syria and Australia Two years full time. job straight away with State Do you miss Arabic food, music or be proud of you. Street Financial Services where traditions, which ones? What were your requirements? I worked for two and a half I do but it is available here too Do you feel Australian? They required a bachelor degree in years. among the Arabic community, but Absolutely. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie: commerce, good marks and IELTS I arrived to Australia in July definitely not as good as my mum’s Oi, Oi, Oi! score of at least 6.5 overall not less than 6 in each component (the full mark is 9). Why Australia? How different is the education system to that of Syria? People five-star rating for nine key performance to rank countries by level of human Totally different. In Syria the Australians are renowned for their friend- indicators. development, across life expectancy, assessment method is based on ly and easy going nature. In a multicul- Australia ranked ninth in ease of doing knowledge and education, and standard memorising rather than concep- tural country like Australia, people easily business and third in the ease of starting of living. tual learning. In Australia there accept others and highly respect others’ a business according to the Doing Busi- Sydney ranked 9th in the ‘World’s Most is ongoing assessment through beliefs, differences and backgrounds. ness 2010 report, 2009. Liveable Cities’ list in The Economist research assignments, projects, magazine 2008 report. quizzes, class participation, home- Education Lifestyle work, online assessment, real life Australia ranked first in the United Na- Australia ranked second in the Human Working in finance case studies and the final exam. tions Education Index in 2008. Development (HDI) Report 2009 and Sydney is the headquarters of 90 banks In 2008 The University of New South third in 2007 and 2008. The Human De- and more than half of Australia’s top What was the process for Wales (UNSW) received the maximum velopment Index (HDI) is an index used companies. completing your studies to