With students from all over the globe choosing to study in various parts of the country, Australia is ranked as one of the most student friendly countries in the world. Though everyone mentions the beaches and the sunny days, no one really talks about the struggles one faces as an international student in a new country. Here is a list of a few:
1. Tuition Fee: As an international student, you are required to pay an extremely high tuition fee which is sometimes almost 3-4 times the cost of the tuition fee of your local classmates, enrolled in the same course and same class as you. Being international does come with a price.
2. Loneliness: When the initial high of being in a new country dies down, the reality hits and so does loneliness. The noise and hustle that would be annoying back home, is suddenly the one thing you crave the most. There is no one to look out for you, you need to look after yourself which can be a huge change for any international student living away from home.
3. Public Transport: The public transport in Australia may be comfortable to sit on but not as comfortable on your pocket as an international student. This is another aspect of an international student’s life where they face silent discrimination on having to pay twice the amount for public transport as their local counterparts.
4. Work: Finding work can be an extreme uphill task for any international student causing a vast number of students to end up working for employers who exploit them by paying them way below the minimum wage (and making it sound like a favour). Since international students are new to the country and completely unaware about the law, they are often exploited on the job market by scrupulous employers.
5. Food: Grocery shopping is expensive in Australia. EXPENSIVE. A person spends $150-200 on weekly groceries as most of them don’t know how to handle their money or probably don’t know how to cook. This can be a lot of money for any international student , specially those with no part-time job and already having to pay a huge amount on tuition.
6.Cultural Shock: As an international student coming to live in a new country thousands of miles away from home is a pretty scary feeling. On coming to a new country adjusting to the lifestyle and trying to make friends can be a real difficult task. As a lot of international students say meeting Australians and becoming a part of their friend circle are two different things altogether as unlike in countries like the UK and US where people move away from home to study, most Australian students prefer to study near home, and so already have their friends and a fixed group of friends.
7. Lack of guidance: Though there are abundant sources to help International students, most of the students aren’t aware about them because of lack of guidance. Many international students only find out about the support systems around them by their final year or sometimes even after they graduate. It is because of this that a lot of students spend their time abroad getting frustrated by the lack of opportunities and sources available to them.
8. Graduation ceremony? Unless you have studied for a degree for two years or more, an international student is not eligible for post study work rights, because of which a lot of international students have to come back to Australia on a visitor visa just to attend their graduation ceremony, which sometimes happen 4-6 months after the actual release of results. This can be really annoying and causes a lot of hassle.
