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Immigrants in Australia

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25.01.2022 "If you go back to the era of the '90s, everybody wanted to move abroad for a better quality of life, job and opportunities. My dad coming from an engineering background and mom being a psychologist had the same urge, and we arrived in Australia in 1993. The process used to be more straightforward. I was 11 years old and had finished the eighth grade. My dad came here a year before us, to ensure everything feels settled before we join him. As a kid, my challenge was to get u...sed to the lingos. My knowledge had been confined to my home country, so I could feel the change when I joined a new school in this new country. Kids around me knew different things that I wasn't even aware of. It took me a year and a half to catch hold of my ship and realise that I am actually here. The love of my family sustained me, and it started getting better after a while. I met my husband and moved to America for a few years, but I felt my heart still belonged to Australia. We decided to come back along with our two kids. I was still on my post-pregnancy weight (which was around 85-89kgs), and I told myself, 'this isn't the real you', and I need to bounce back, focus all the energies on my health. I dramatically challenged myself with a good diet, workout regime and lost those extra kilos (I am 59kgs now). Losing weight taught me how to value my mind and body altogether. My life started turning for good post the transformation and I enrolled myself into some beauty pageants. I became Mrs India Australia 1st runner up in 2016 and then went on to win Mrs India Global 2018. It felt great to represent these two countries that have defined me into who I am. I kept building momentum and had plenty of professional opportunities which includes attending the Cannes Film Festival. My husband and I had the honour to represent team India on the Australian cooking show- 'Plate of Origin' where we could celebrate our heritage dishes with the rest of the world. My journey of being an actor, influencer, model, chef, and a fitness enthusiast has been so fulfilling. I want to encourage many other lives and make them believe in the power of manifestation. If there's something, you truly believe you can do then nothing can stop you!" My Team India, Simran Gulati #ImmigrantsinAustralia

19.01.2022 "They say it takes a village to raise a baby. When you're moving to a new country, it is exactly like that. You're building a life from scratch as you open your eyes to a whole new world. My Down Under journey started in 2016 when I got my PR but I only jumped on a plane in 2018 after carefully assessing all the new opportunities and experiences that were going to come my way. I was living a pretty good life, working as a general manager in one of India's reputed firms. Howe...ver, I felt I needed to be in a place where I could fully explore my capabilities. I wondered if I could have a better sense of belonging and then followed my gut. I planned, did in-depth research, saved, and arrived with the intent of looking for work, travelling a bit, and having a year to sort life. Australia turned out to be one of the most naturally beautiful places I've been to. One can experience all the seasons in their glory here. And the best things are for free - the beach, the sunshine and the clean air. My lowest phase came when I started looking for jobs. Despite being thoroughly organised, nothing worked. I was one of the most qualified professionals in my field and to land here with only entry-level job offers felt like a significant disregard to my prior work experience. Nevertheless, I persevered. I had not expected my migrant journey to be all glossy, but even when you anticipate challenges, you don't expect them to shake your sense of self-worth. You go through a stressful time when you're building a new life. Between looking for a house, trying to understand the language, keeping in touch with family, finding a new social circle, figuring out where to eat and what to eat, what to buy and meeting deadlines in your job - it can get too much. I learn you will need to be kind to yourself. Today, I have a senior role in my organisation and serve on the board of a youth charity. I also recently co-founded a not-for-profit organisation to help migrants like me get all the support they need, called @intcoll. It's my way to give back to the community for the support I got as a new migrant. If you would like to help as well, please donate to my birthday fundraiser (https://bit.ly/396wqn8). #ImmigrantsinAustralia

14.01.2022 "The idea of moving overseas was at the back of my mind for a lot longer than when I thought about it consciously. Coming from Sri Lanka and having a keen interest in Arts, I had always weighed my options in sustaining a balanced life. I had been to Australia four times before, and I decided on moving permanently. I had explored Melbourne and seen how that city thrives on Art culture. It was a great fit to pursue my passion whilst securing an academic degree. My hardships as... an international student were slightly less because of my language. We often conversed in English back home, which turned out to be a blessing. It allowed me to form connections and not be afraid of it. I did juggle with travel sometimes. My Uni used to be in the city, and I only had classes in the evening. It used to start at 6pm and finish at 9pm. But if I didn't catch the 8:30pm train, I'd miss the bus to my suburb. It resulted in plenty of sleeping done in the Uni, under a bench mostly. I looked at it as an opportunity to work over my projects. On days when it felt too much, I'd remind myself about a life I was trying to create by being here that I wouldn't have gained from being elsewhere. Later on, I started working 40-hour-a-week as a bartender to pay my bills and brushed up my art career. I would fondly remember how I sold my first official Artwork for 300$. Australia gave me the independence to work without a safety net, marking my path. I figured out how to do life in a new country together. After meeting my partner in Australia, we moved to a different suburb closer to her office while I was still working in the city. It was a 1-hour and 30minutes ride to work every day. I would observe things around me, and one day I started noting them down into the taglines that I felt an immigrant could relate to. I would then think of illustrations around them, and that is how I developed the idea of my first book 'What to expect when you're immigrating.' I wanted to address the issues that could act as roadblocks in the new journey and get them out of the way. Moving abroad is not a carnival ride. But you've come a long way. It'd be sad if you didn't undergo the adventures the country has to offer." Nash’s funny, insightful debut book #WhattoExpectWhenYoureImmigrating is out now from Affirm Press! #ImmigrantsinAustralia

02.01.2022 In early 2011, my wife made a grand plan to travel to Australia for 12 months, where she could pursue a degree, and I tagged along. To me, it felt like a great change of place. I'd worked in the same place for a long time and was keen for a change. We decided on an English-speaking country because that offered the best chance of getting a job. We had carefully assessed the impact of the 2008 recession on various countries, and luckily Australia seemed to be stable, so we dec...ided on it. The biggest challenge was getting that first job. I didn't look up job postings before I arrived, which was quite naïve of me. In Canada, my job was in high demand. I thought it would carry over wherever I went. But in Sydney, I soon realised it could take a while before something clicked. The challenge was to get the first job and accept that I would have to take a role that would be several steps below what I previously did. The silver lining to all the hiccups was that they prepared me to face anything that life might throw at me. The success gave me confidence, and the hurdles humbled me. Now on weekends I try to explore different suburbs because Australia is such an interesting place to be. There's so much to admire the coastlines, breathtaking architecture, and you find these little hidden gems along the way. I like walking around without a purpose and with a good coffee in my hand. We assumed it would be just a 12-month adventure, but the longer I stayed, the more opportunities started coming my way. It's come to the point where I can't think of leaving. The weather feels nice, the job is right, I'm having fun, the coffee's great, so why change? Everything is perfect. I'm also the kind of a guy who doesn't live with many regrets, and I don't second guess too many things. When I commit to something, I want to make it work, no matter how many challenges I may encounter on the way. #ImmigrantsInAustralia

02.01.2022 "It was February 2020 when we found out we were expecting our first child, Zenna. We'd been looking forward to parenthood and the journey thereafter, so when we received the news, we were on cloud nine. The following month, there was a Coronavirus outbreak, and it got announced that borders will be shutting down for international travellers. What was our first reaction? We were scared. Excited. Anxious. Our initial days were filled with so much love, enthusiasm, and new conv...ersations surrounding the baby, that it didn't strike us how our family might not be present at the time of delivery. We were hopeful things would settle down in a few months, but travel restrictions started growing more crucial as the due date was approaching. My friend in Melbourne, who was also pregnant at the same time, was worried her folks wouldn't be able to make it on time to Australia and she'd have to manage alone. We too decided to apply for my mom's travel exemption which didn't get approved despite having a valid visa. Once it got confirmed that our families would be missing out on meeting Zenna as a newborn, we braced ourselves for the big day. With the absence of hands-on help from loved ones, it got a bit wobbly, but at the same time, it changed us in so many good ways. It helped us bring out the best in our relationship. We allocated duties, communicated every anxiety, expectations and counted them tactfully. We started looking for baby essentials, attended zoom birthing and parenting classes, and our hospital bags were ready much in advance. The cutback from seeing family, friends, and attending supportive engagements was distress, but we stayed connected through the screen. We got equipped with the best hospital services, where the doctors were extremely helpful, and the midwives were great. The day Zenna was born opened the gates of gratefulness in a whole new way. One of the biggest lessons learned throughout this journey is that we can't always control every aspect of our lives or the order in which it all happens. But we can cure the tides in our minds and manoeuvre all of the changes that arise from them. Today we're living our best lives. Zenna continues to keep us in awe each day. It has been the most humbling experience. Nurturing new roles have made us fall in love all over again." #ImmigrantsinAustralia