Adjusting to a New Community: Challenges and Strategies

HARDEEP_KAUR_33121561_ASSIGNMENT 3_PART 1
Each year, thousands of students visit Australia for higher study among which many
are from Asian countries as well as from Europe or America (Homeaffairs.gov.au 2018).
Each of these students have different cultural background and different style of learning
which they followed in their home countries. They have differentlanguages and values which
affect their behaviorsof these students. Therefore, the expectations of these abroad
studentsare also different from their native peers. For example, the rules and regulation
regarding education style are followed in India is completely different from that of Australia.
This is the reason why initially I used to get overwhelmed with these contrasts, but gradually
managed to understand these differences and respond accordingly.
It was my childhood dream of gaining higher studies from overseas. The life was full
of complicated emotions while stepping into new community of Australia. The excitement of
gaining master’s degree from Murdoch University and it was very hard for me to bid
goodbye to my near and dear ones in my home country so as to begin a mew journey of life
altogether. The very first day at Murdoch University was full of thrilling sensation as my
dream had come true. I was being escorted by my sibling on the very first day at Murdoch
University. First of all, I went to student center for my enrolment. The staff was very polite
and supportive. As per their instruction I went to library. The thing which surprised me the
most was that they issued me card at the same time which never happened in my home
country. After that, I continued to guild for the smart rider so as to get the advantage of
concession ticket. No doubt, it was not easy for me because everything was new for me
community, academic structure as well as the environment. From that day forward, I went to
the university on the day of orientation as it was exhilarating opportunity to get a taste for
what your life would be in the coming couple of years. At the very initial stage of

international university life, I became very sensitive to the hardships as I have come from
such a different world and it was very hard for me to understand the life of struggle.In the
first week of class, I understood the other’s point of view as learning about experience of
another is very important step in development process and in the second week, I became
more familiar with the faces introduced in the first week and the communications increased
and get to know more about each other.
Murdoch University has its own remarkable culture. There are lots of provisions
provided being provided to the students (Murdoch.edu.au 2018). There is student center
which facilitate them with their problems and provides them with some outstanding
recommendations and encourages students to be independent and self-directed. Medical
services are provided to students free of cost. Apart from this, there is guild and cafe in the
university campus. One of the things which I felt odd about the Murdoch culture is that there
is no dress code for the students and the lectures are more semi-formal which favored the
comfort level of the students and allows them to have more interaction among the class and
with the professor as well. There is active communication via email among students and staff.
One of the things I discovered in Murdoch Cultureis that the faculty is addressed by the
name. However, addressing the faculty by name in my home country shows disrespect.
There are several provisions provided to the students as they can board the bus available at
the door step of campus.
As an international student, it was very hard for me to deal with so many things in the
first semester as I have dealt with completely different academic structure. First semester of
the university was always confusing still it was a great opportunity to learn more about the
different subjects and cleared all the doubts of the subjects I was unsure of. One of the
biggest challenged I had faced is the referencing style and citing the sources as I had never

practiced the Chicago style in my assignments. The firm actions are taken by schools and
university in order to prevent plagiarism.So, it was hard for me to make the assignments
within specific deadlines with the unfamiliar academic structure. Apart from this,
accommodating myself with the online information pretty hard for me as in our home country
we were much relied on the hard copies rather than online information (Pinar 2018).
For an international student, language is not only a communication tool but also a
significant factor that affects academic achievement. In order to cope with this language
barrier, I have to read academic literature twice or thrice so that I can understand it
completely. Also, curriculum content is another barrier and it made me more stressful and I
am not able to fully understand curriculum content as it is more based on Australian Culture
and Education (Potts 2015). Besides friends, family is another important source of support to
an international student as family provides emotional support. So, I call them regularly and
enjoy talking with them. I know they cannot assist me cope with practice problems as like in
my home country still provides me an emotional support which is much more valuable for me
to cope with the difficulties in Australian Culture.
No doubt, entering into a new country could be an overwhelming experience but
staying concentrated towards the study and making study the most important and first
consideration can free from all the distractions and homesickness as we all know that we all
have spent a lot of hard cash and travelled so far away from our family. Lastly, it is very
essential to keep in mind that it is ultimately your determination and hard efforts that will
make the university’s life successful and worth fruitful.The limits of one's nation are never
again a hindrance in one's improvement. Individuals have the flexibility of circling all the
more unreservedly among nations and societies and the adjustments in their requirements
frequently decide them to exploit that opportunity.