In the future I want to improve my community and help people with their education.
My name is Meme. I’m 20 years old. I was born in East Africa. I have been in Australia for three years and two days. I work in a casual position. I want to help new young people like me, because when I arrived in Australia for the first time I struggled.
Dictionary
I didn’t know how to speak English when I arrived here. I had to learn lots of new words. I applied for a volunteer position helping patients at a hospital, doing things like reading stories. But they didn’t accept me because I didn’t have fluent English.
I would say to employers: ‘If my English isn’t good, it doesn’t mean that I’m not skilled at other things.’
Woman and Education
Lots of girls around the world don’t have the opportunity to study and achieve. Education is essential, especially for girls my age. Education is really important for everyone because it gives them the chance to achieve their goals and to be better in society.
Studying for my VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) is helping me to achieve my goals. In the future I want to improve my community and help people with their education.
Books
This is a photo of the books I am studying for the VCE. Studying is helping me a lot to achieve my long-term goal to be an architect.
When I studied English for new migrants it was very good, but I could only study English there. Now I am studying more academic subjects that will help me to achieve my goals.
Hijab
One of the things that doesn’t help me get a job easily is my hijab. Some people judge me for it before even knowing my personality. When I applied for jobs they didn’t allow me to work with them because of my hijab.
I applied for a hospitality job with friends from my English class. They gave a job to all of my friends, but they didn’t call me back. I believe this is because of my hijab.
