Studying in Australia has given me a better education, more work opportunities and more access to the latest research than are available in Iran. I have really enjoyed my time here.
Before I came here to complete my Master of Computer Science, I was studying telecommunication engineering and working in IT and computers in Tehran. My knowledge was more practical than technical, I wanted to get the theoretical background to understand what’s the reason for the different things we are doing. It has helped me to connect the dots.
I chose UNSW because it had the highest ranking of any university in Australia in computing, and the courses I was interested in were available.
I did enjoy the course. The good thing was that the emphasis was more on assessments than the final exam. It meant you could work the whole semester on different assignments, rather than spending all your time memorising facts at the end.
When I arrived here I had no problem settling in. I had a flatmate, I was enjoying my time here and I was working in IT.
The University has a very good international office to help international students. People are the same everywhere. There is a quite large Iranian community in Sydney, but I spend most of my time with my university friends and some of my colleagues.
Also Australia is quite a safe country, there’s not much crime happening here and I have never felt any problem coming home from work or uni late at night. Sometimes I don’t even lock my door when I go out!
I finished my degree in 2006 and am now working at Fairfax Media as a solution architect. Studying at UNSW meant I had a degree from Australia and the knowledge I needed to get the job.
