Doing the hard yards as an asylum seeker

Swinburne wanted me to pay $9,650 before I could enrol. Fortunately this was changed so I could pay in instalments. With $2,000 left to pay, another friend got her Visa card out - and others promised to help too. I was able to enrol. There was three days of queues - I waited for three hours in one.

So many people have helped me. A lovely woman at Swinburne gave me a second-hand computer. Someone else helped me work out my timetable. And there were always people trying to make it easier for me. I needed all the help I could get.

My first class was a lecture which was really good, but Lab Prac was hard. I nearly cried. It was a class full of boys who seemed to all know each other. I was the only girl and we were asked to form groups. I was left alone in the middle of the room. No one noticed. There was a table with just two boys on it, so I approached and asked if I could join them. I couldn’t understand anything much of what happened. I think I was just nervous.

Uni is hard. My first day was really tiring and I was so busy - I didn’t get home until 7:30 at night!

I tried to get a transport concession card but I couldn’t because I was enrolled as an international student. My local Member of Parliament is going to see if that can be changed for me. Eventually I found out it wasn’t even necessary because I had a Health Care Card. It took weeks to find this out. Everything gets so confusing. There are so many details to care about.

Then some really good news came - the uni decided to take $5,000 off my fees; and they gave me $500 for textbooks - the books at uni are extremely expensive. Now I only have another $2,650 to find for this semester

By the start of Week 2, I was having fun and things were looking up. My timetable was fixed, I had all my books, the Immigration Department made its decision and I was granted permanent residency. I won’t have to be an international student anymore which means I am eligible for a HECS place.

Everything is OK now. I am accepted as a refugee. I am happy. My parents are happy. My little sister is happy. I am at uni and I’m determined to do my best.

As a result of Hawraa’s case, Swinburne University of Technology is reviewing its entry procedures for refugees and asylum seekers and considering the introduction of a scholarship system.