Armidale Express Extra has been looking at the stories of international students at UNE. This month, we meet Khawlah Alqahtani from Saudi Arabia.
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My family and I arrived in Australia from Saudi Arabia in 2011 to further our studies.
I got my batchelor degree in animal biology early in 2005 at the Girls College of Science in Jeddah City.
In the same year, I married Mohammed, and began teaching in the local high school.
In 2010, we planned to do master’s degrees and looked for appropriate study offers for both of us. Mohammed has a bachelor degree in production and breeding of animals.
By the end of 2010, we both got study offers at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, UK, but the specialisation course wasn’t appropriate within my area, and in the same week we got two master degree offers at the University of Tasmania.
We were confused about which one to choose! Early in 2011, we got a third offer at tge University of New England, Armidale.
Armidale! There were a lot of questions in our heads, like how is the life there, is it a safe place, are the people there friendly, will I have difficulties with the community in my scarf etc.
With some information we got from the internet, we decided to go to “Kangaroo Land” and we chose UNE to study.
On July 2011, my story here started when we (my two kids – a boy three years, a girl one-year-old, my husband and myself) departed from summer season in Riyadh. The temperature was around 45˚C. We arrived in Sydney at the night and the temperature was very cold in winter season!
Oh… can you imagine that! It was a terrible day because my kids got flu and our English was poor for asking for a taxi from a hotel near Sydney airport to the nearest emergency centre or pharmacy to get anything to treat them!
My little daughter Rital was born in May 2017 – a little Aussie baby!
It is long story.
Anyway, next day we arrived in Armidale and I will never forget that day, because the climate was windy, rainy and cold. My husband told me as joke, I think we chose the wrong place.
We stayed in a motel room for a month because we didn’t have rental history to provide to real estate until we got a place.
In 2011 and 2012, I was in the lovely English Language Centre at UNE and it was enjoyable to meet and learn language and new cultures from the other students from countries such as China, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Then my husband and I started in 2013 to do our masters and, in that year, I met my best friend Carrie Conolly.
The time was going fast towards graduation at the end of 2014, and it was time to go back to Saudi Arabia, but Mohammed got an offer to do PhD with Professor Paul Iji in animal science in Armidale, so he started in 2015.
We are enjoying Armidale and it was the right choice to come here. I have made a lot of friends and learnt a lot.
My kids Nawaf, Year 6, and Norah, Year 3, study in Ben Venue Public School and they like it and are happy with their friends.
My little daughter Rital was born in May 2017 – a little Aussie baby! Mohammed and Carrie were there to welcome the new little family member.
Mohammed will complete his PhD next year and we will go back to Saudi Arabia with nice and amazing memories that I will not forget.
I recommend anyone from Saudi Arabia study in Armidale – but don’t come in July!
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