From War-Torn Beginnings to Academic Triumph: My Journey of Resilience and Learning

Few people in my life know my academic journey from childhood to adulthood so here is a summary.        

I migrated to Australia at the turn of the new century, in 2000. I arrived with no formal schooling background, speaking only Somali and a bit of Arabic (Syrian). I was born in 1988, during the onset of the civil war in British Somaliland and Somalia. During the war years, with my family we moved from city to city, village to village, and to the borders of Ethiopia, finding safe passage to Addis Ababa until the end of the civil war in 1991. When my family returned home to what is now the Republic of Somaliland, everything we owned was destroyed, and we had to rebuild.

I spent the next four years of my early childhood, around age 6 or 7, playing around with no formal education available. By the time I was 8, we migrated to Syria (winter 1995), and I spent the next five years learning a new language and attending school. I struggled to keep up with kids who had early childhood education, often getting into mischief. One day, my father suggested we leave Syria to seek a better life elsewhere. We chose Australia because we had relatives there, and the weather was relatively warmer than in the US or UK.

We arrived in Australia in early April 2000, and my twin brother and I were placed into the tail-end of a Year 6 program at Moreland City Primary School. The head teacher told my mother, who spoke some English, that we were too old (12 going into 13) for Grade 6 and could only attend for half a year before moving to high school. Soon after, we moved to Brunswick Secondary College and started an English as a Second Language (ESL) course. This course lasted six months, and we passed the ESL test, allowing us to start Year 7.

At the beginning of 2001, I learned to start a computer for the first time and how to log in with a username and password. A few months into 2001, we left Brunswick Secondary College because my older brother became a target of gang members, and we enrolled in a private Islamic school in Preston.

For the next three to four years, I attended East Preston Islamic College (EPIC) for Years 8 to 9. The only education I received there was how to play computer games and sports. We barely studied, and I was okay with that because I didn’t know any better. My mum noticed my education was declining and moved me to Reservoir Secondary College, where my education was saved.

At Reservoir High, I met teachers like Mrs. Bulend, Mrs. Elizabeth Rigoni , Mr. Zavrois (I hope I spelled their names correctly), and Mr. Hassan, who believed in me and taught me from the ground up. They were catalysts who turned around a young boy whose early education was disrupted by war. I finished high school in 2007 with a VCE score of 57/100. I barely passed but was headed to university to enroll in a double degree in Computer Science and Aviation.

That same year, I was struck with pneumonia and tuberculosis. I was bedridden for three months, and my weight dropped from 75kg to 54kg. During the world financial crisis, I was lying in bed, waiting for death. I was hospitalised and later entered complete isolation for six months, interacting with my family and doctors through a glass window. When I was released, I stayed home for another three months until the bacteria was completely out of my system.

I made a quick turnaround and, in 2010, joined Coles as a cashier, working my way through flight school. However, I could only go so far paying tuition with a casual salary, even with double shifts. I paused my flying lessons and applied for a Bachelor of Applied Science at RMIT. I was denied and advised to enroll in an Advanced Diploma of Engineering.

I told the selection officer, what can I do to gain entrance into the degree, he said you will need to get HD in five subjects for me to consider your application. I said I will do you one better, I will take 7 subjects and get HD in all - I got 6 HDs. In November 2010, I came knocking on his door. By the start of 2011, I began my bachelor’s degree and discontinued flying lessons. On December 12, 2012, I graduated. In 2014, I enrolled in the RMIT MBA program, graduating on December 16, 2015, with a GPA of 3.5/4.0.

Long story short, I spent the 13 years since 2011 learning ruthlessly and pushing myself. I fought against mental boundaries and made the impossible possible. I completed a Bachelor's Degree in Applied Science (Aviation), pursued a generalist degree in Business Administration, and followed it up with a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (view my thesis here at the RMIT Research Repository)

I thank these special individuals who played a pivotal role in my education, Dr Glenn Baxter , Susan Young , Dr Dr George Jiang, Paul Gibson , Dr Terry Boulter , Dr. Chris Booth , Dr Michael Rowe , Dr. Christine Murphy , Dr David Goodwin , Dr Becksndale Masawi , Takele Soboka Bulto (PhD) , Bruce Wilson , Charles Hunt , Dr Leo Goedegebuure , Andrew Linden , Bruce McDonald , Dr Alemayehu Molla and the many more exceptional academics of 澳大利亚皇家墨尔本理工大学 !

To all those who doubted me, who said to give in to my disadvantages, I say never. The limit is the sky. The limit is only what you make of it, not what others make for you.

Thank you, 澳大利亚皇家墨尔本理工大学 , RMIT STEM College , RMIT College of Business and Law , RMIT College of Design and Social Context , #RMITAcademics and #RMITCommunity!