I was born in a small village, where there is nothing to do much. Lack of education, lack of infrastructure, lack of employment, natural disasters, things were never very good. Life became very hard day by day. As a young girl it was even harder to live in a country where there is no future. I decided to come to Ireland to study and built my career. For the obvious reason, to get a good education, to work in a better place, and to live a happy and safe life.
My journey to Ireland started from 05/11/2016. I was just 19 years old when I left my home. As a young girl studying in a college had always been my dreams. But my dreams never came true for 5 years. I was so down, and my dreams were shattered because of visa problem. I never thought that immigration process will take this long. All those 5 years I usually found myself held prisoner in the house because I had no permission to go to college, to go to work or to do anything. Even the bank didn’t allow me to open a bank account. Exploring the world, learning new things, and living my independent life is all I wanted in life, but things not always happen as we wish or want.
As, time went on, I began to lose my purpose in life. I was worried, depressed, and frustrated. I soon realized that after every night there comes a beautiful morning likewise after every hard times there comes a good time too so, I need to have a patience and I have to be strong. I had to believe in myself, and If I waited for 5 years the day would finally arrive when I could go to college and work. As an international student, English is not my first language but to get admission in college I had to pass an English exam, there comes another fear for me. However as I like to take on challenges in life, I decided that studying English for just 2 months which was not a easy task, would get me my place in college.
My next challenge was that my parents were unable to pay for college and for my expenses. Therefore, I had the responsibility to look after myself in order to do that, I needed to work part time as I have a full-time class. Well, it’s not an easy to do everything at once but I know at last it will be worthwhile. Being an immigrant in another country was a very different experience for me. I had to overcome more difficulties, language barrier, looking a job, learning a new culture, etc. Since I’ve joined CORK COLLEGE OF FET my life has changed in a good way. Being at college here has already given me so many opportunities that I never would have gotten the chance to do. Here, I can go out and socialize with new people every day. I am surrounded by people from different countries, cultures and who were raised differently but they are very nice people who treats everyone equally. College helped me to overcome my fear. I’m so blessed that I have a very good teacher (Martina) who supports me and always encouraged me to do better. Currently, I’m studying Early learning and Care level 5. I understood that studying Childcare will bring many opportunities to my life. Studying in a college is not a dream for me right now. It is a pathway to reach my career goals which is needed. My aim is to do honor degree. My teacher (Martina) taught me that I should always dream big, and I should never stop, I must continue to my personal and professional improvement. I believe that CORK COLLEGE OF FET will support me to receive my associate degree with good grades.
At last, I really appreciate Nasc and St.Vincent De Paul who helped me through my journey to college. This is only possible because of them. Specials thanks to CORK COLLEGE OF FET my teacher and my dear peers because of you all my college journey is being easy and memorable, and I get to learn and explore widely.