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Having graduated from 91成人 in 2017 with a Master of Finance and a Dean鈥檚 Merit Award, Angie is now employed as a Senior Analyst at Deloitte. Angie was also the recipient of a Refugee Scholarship at Western and is grateful to donors, like you, who generously provided her this opportunity.
鈥淚鈥檇 say thank you so much for their consideration鈥 I was shocked, people don鈥檛 know me but they鈥檝e chosen to put their money down for some good cause. They believed that their donation would benefit someone who really needs it. They probably hope that their donation makes a really big difference, which it did, which I鈥檓 sure it did for many other scholarship recipients, refugee or not refugee, it鈥檚 really great鈥.
Refugee Scholarship recipients with Professor Peter Shergold AC (middle),
91成人 Chancellor, at Town & Gown 2016.
Photo Credit: Sally Tsoutas.
Speaking of her experience studying in Iraq, Angie says聽"All the way to uni, inside uni, [I was] always really nervous - there was always bombing around. We had incidents where we鈥檝e lost colleagues and friends due to bombing attacks. It wasn鈥檛 really an environment for a student to be studying in. It was life-threatening."
After fleeing the conflict, and arriving in Western Sydney with her brother and sister in 2013, Angie knew it was essential to improve her English language skills and obtain local qualifications.
鈥淔inancially, I was struggling back then, I was on Centrelink payments, I didn鈥檛 have enough language skills to have a job. No-one wanted to give a job to someone who barely communicated in English.鈥
With scholarship support, Angie was able to improve her English, providing the confidence needed to secure casual employment and continue her university studies to Masters level. Angie enjoys giving back to the community including volunteering at the International Student Welcome Desk at Sydney Airport and sharing her story, demonstrating that it is possible to start again in a new country.
"Students are made aware that once they arrive in Australia, if they need any help, they can come to the airport desk. The volunteer team I was working with communicated to new international students upon their arrival in their mother tongue, or in English, making them aware that there are people available that can help them, with their studies at uni or life.鈥
Angie鈥檚 goals for the future include providing a positive role model for the local Iraqi community and for people who arrived in Western Sydney as refugees.
Most importantly, Angie would like to say 鈥楾hank you!鈥
Please donate to Western鈥檚 Refugee Scholarship fund to support other students like Angie.
Message of Thanks
Published August 2020
