Hello, my name is Arjaree Veeraprach and I am the Marketing and Admissions Manager for Sydney School of Business and Technology and Apple Study Group. I would like to share my experience of being an International student in Australia.
I am from Khon Kaen, a beautiful, small, colourful city in northern eastern of Thailand and I came to Australia 17 years ago as an International student to study English and Higher Education. I started to learn English when I was in High school but my level was very minimal. After graduating from University in Thailand I decided to come to Australia to continue my studies.
After arrival!
I had no doubts, I would struggle with my English when I arrived in Sydney, Australia. However, I realised that Studying English in Australia would be far better and more efficient compared with learning in my country. It took me sometime to adapt to a new environment. The combination of Culture shock, a new place, new food, new friends and a new environment was challenging.
The first skill that I improved was cooking, I suddenly had to do everything for myself, no mom or dad helping anymore. Converting Thai Baht to Dollars was also a challenge. The Dollar is worth almost 30 times the rate of Thai Baht, I kept telling myself that I needed to save more!
Something I liked about being an International student!
I like the transportation system here, it is so convenient. The Weather is the best. I can feel real winter! However, as an International Student, we do not get any discount or concession on transportation fees.
The most difficult part of learning English is Writing. I could not use or link all my beautiful words to make nice sentences. I decided to join a Writing task and wrote a lot of essays which helped me a lot to improve. Someone said to me that if I wanted to improve my writing skills I should read a lot. So, I started to do much more reading.
I never regretted making the decision to come and be a student in Australia. It was a good experience throughout. Working at SSBT and Apple Study Group as Marketing and Admissions Manager is a bonus. I can give an advice to other international students who are struggling as I once did. It is an advantage to speak 2 languages, so students I deal with can understand more
I wish that you all have a good time here in Australia and enjoy being an International Student!
Thank you
Arjaree VEERAPRACH
Marketing and Admissions Manager