In conversation with Asef Aktab from Bangladesh

Hi listeners, this is Basib and I'm back again with Deakin Conversations. Every episode we invite a new student and hear from them their stories. We get to know how they have spent their life in Australia, how they have adopted a new situation, culture shock if there was any challenges that they may have faced and choices they have made boldly while being a student in Australia with Deakin. Sometimes we need to look beyond what we believe exists and what is possible for ourselves. We can probably do this by loving ourselves to open our eyes to new possibilities. We live in a world that has a great deal of variety. If you just not learn from your own culture where you have grown but from others as well you'll excel even more in this international world we live in. You'll make the most of the world around you by taking your education abroad and this is the very first step you take as a person as an individual where you want to be a global citizen when you want to taste different cultures of life. You want to meet people from different walks of life and from here the limit is only the sky. Our guest for today is Arsef and he has done exactly the same thing. He has gone to Australia from Bangladesh to pursue his higher education aspiration over there in Melbourne in Jailang Rada. Arsef is from Bangladesh and currently and is currently joining us from the second largest city of Victoria which is Jailang. He's a recent master of engineering graduate from Deakin and prestigious vice-chancellors meritorious scholarship Vina. He was born and brought up in Dhaka where he pursued his Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Electrical and Electronics and after that he worked for a while as an electrical engineer and that very span of his life, tenure of his life, intrigued him to get into industrial automation and robotics which eventually led him to study make electronics with Deakin University in Australia and during his time in Deakin he had volunteered in various activities and of course as a vice-chancellors scholar it also exposes you, it gives you that platform to kind of you know mentor a lot of students and you are part of different exclusive programs that also helps you to upskill yourselves and this happened alongside university projects and that actually led to a contractual work with the School of Engineering and we'll probably also get to know from him what makes School of Engineering a Deakin really different from other providers in Australia or Melbourne per se. Having completed his studies this April he's now going ahead to find the right job for himself and we probably get to know how it works and what is the way ahead for recent graduate and especially because of the fact that you know I mean how things have changed after pandemic so over to you ourselves welcome welcome to the show. Thank you Basad thank you for having me and thank you for the great introduction great to be here and I'm looking forward to a good conversation. Thanks thanks it's really late in the evening I know for a fact in Australia you don't really have this culture of having dinner after 8 pm I mean it's like really late in the night so as if will our questions primarily would revolve around your journey your experience as an international student how it differs from the home country that you belong to and probably you can also share some insights in terms of what you expected before coming to Australia and how it turned out to be when you landed especially when you have spent two years over here I'll have some questions and you may want to kind of add on if you want to sort of supplement it with some facts and all so my first question to you as if is how you dealt with the major change and I'm sure each one of us in this world have gone through it in 2020 especially when there was pandemic I mean you moved I think in the year 2020 and how do you manage and what kept you going? Sure so yeah you're right I landed here in Australia in February of 2020 and after one week of going to the campus when I was just getting everything sorted because you know obviously new place everything is new around even the link over here is different from you know back home so yeah I was just getting used to living independently as well and that's exactly when COVID hit so yeah it has been a reality for the entire cohort but yeah it was definitely challenging you know given that you start off living independently you're gonna have to start doing all your things yourself cooking cleaning groceries all that and on how do you I'm sorry I'm sorry to put it did you ever imagine back in Bangladesh I'm sure I mean you never had to do that you had your mom you had your probably you know other elderly members in the family who were probably taking care of that aspect of the family so did you ever imagine that you will actually end up you know doing everything for yourself like domestic course cooking washing clothes all this stuff although everyone does it when they're in Australia or any other country you you care whatever but yeah how did you sort of go up yeah so I was mentally prepared for it that you know I'm gonna have to take up these challenges but I'll be honest I did not prepare for it you know in terms of you know learning how to cook or anything yeah so everything was on the spot you know just googling and YouTube videos of you know how long to boil an egg and what not so yeah it was all on the spot learning and yeah definitely challenging in the first few months but you get used to it and as you said it's it's it's part of life right it's just life skills so everyone needs to pick these up eventually so yeah I'm sure I'm being a student over there definitely have missed out Bangladesh she pull out Biryani and Tehris so just eggs rice some doubt that's it I don't go into the fancy stuff because I know I'm not gonna be able to make it as good as my mom so let's try cool so you did your undergrad in Bangladesh and then your post-grad in Australia as if you could just highlight we know for a fact and a lot of students I think they come when we kind of meet prospective students they come and ask how is different in Australia how is the education when a pedagogical structure or probably how is learning imparted or delivered to students so was it like really challenging and if we just share I mean what you used to do back in Bangladesh and how was it like way different from other countries the way education is being imparted in Australia or Deakin University for that matter yeah sure so I think with Deakin University it's more systematic their approach is very much based on a few learning outcomes that they want their graduates to have and what it does is it allows the students to sort of pick up on the skills that they need for their industrial journey basically or basically life after uni the way I like to describe it is with a good example which is back when I was studying in Bangladesh since I was doing electrical and electronics I had to do a lot of coding and you know when we had to sit for exams they would expect us to write on a piece of paper a full lock of code now it to me that's impractical I'll tell you why because computers are invented to help people right so it just beats a carpet now with Deakin it's more systematic it's more practical right because the assessments are based on assignments and they're based on projects so a student is given x amount of time probably a few weeks where they have time to study and then work on a specific project and that actually gives them the capability to really focus on their learnings and another thing is with with exams you know you're expected to sort of perform in a span of three to three hours on a specific date now let me just tell you this imagine if you know you've had a you've had a bad day last night right you're looking up with the flu you're not feeling very well you might have had a quarrel with your girlfriend anything happy and so yeah even with that I think Deakin is with the assessments it's more systematic and it's more practical and something that is very admirable right and I can relate with that because I was actually going through one on those articles when they compared the education system that prevails in South Asia or that matter even in the farest South Asian countries the way we do all our assessments for students it is primarily based on written exams three hours exams so what what students end up doing is they they mark up everything I mean it doesn't really matter I mean if you have very good very good retaining skills you know how to retain things you remember you can remember you have good memory you have you probably get very good score doesn't really hold through though with mathematics and physics go but yeah it is possible with a lot of other subjects but when you go to any university in any of those Western or probably Australia I'm considered it Western education system is different you have a lot of emphasis on hands on learning whatever you learn whatever is being taught to you inside the class you got to implement it and you you have to implement it I think right within that semester to projects assignments and then you kind of segregate the weightage between theory, practical and order and that's how you're being assessed as a student as to what you have gained being a student in this particular course so I think it's way more different as if so my next question to you is if you want to add something I think you're adding something yeah I just want to add that yes you're 100% you're correct you know it really does help in the more practical learning but what you can really does well is also is you know there's a lot of teamwork opportunities as well the group project they're actually very good because the students then get to work on their interpersonal skills so more effective communication self-management project management these things are only possible when you're working with other people and these are very essential skills when you're going to go out and about after doing right so these are very important yeah yeah it helps it definitely helps it's just because you are practicing alongside what are we learning so I say if I know like a lot of students back home must be inspired from the journey you had being a VC scholar what advice do you have for them so if I have to give one piece of advice it could definitely be regarding the application process I think that's the first hurdle that students almost you know have to face right away and don't know the appropriate approach I reckon with their applications what they really have to do is reflect upon themselves and tell their story right because you're applying for prestigious scholarship you really have to put on in your story that compels the reader or the interviewer of why you're worth it and how you're going to give back to Deakin for you know the help that they're providing you so yeah telling your story and highlighting your volunteering experiences your working experiences in a way that is foolful that's very critical that's I think that especially the fact that I mean see what really matters I mean how you contribute back to it's a society that very intent is something I think all universities kind of look at when when they're probably hunting for a meritorious scholar for the vice chancellor's scholarship program and the essence of the fact here is you're not only getting someone who is really academically high achiever but has achieved a lot of things beyond academics as a student strike from school days so it's not like one fine day out of the blue you have decided that we are really you know active person socially but rather you have been consistently doing it like for over the years and if you have those profiles definitely there are a lot of such scholarship from various top universities and Deakin especially does it in South Asia and probably with the only university to kind of have exclusive country-specific scholarship in the South Asian region so yes I'd say if you have such profiles go ahead and then come to apply that scholarship and if God forbid if you don't read within it you have many other options that you can look into and we have other scholarships as well you have studied from G-long asset G-long is the second largest city of Victoria not many students are aware of G-long first thing the first impression we get about Australia is Melbourne Sydney you know all these big cities so if you can just tell me what G-long has to offer and also if you could highlight something on G-long technological percent future percent you have been a part of school of engineering highlight candidate I will be in and stuff the facilities and G-long is a region as well so it'll be really I think helpful inside full for students sure so yeah as you said when you think about Australia the two names that usually comes up is Melbourne and Sydney now with my case I did not technically choose G-long the school of engineering is based out of our G-long campus so it was just a match made in heaven because honestly I love it here G-long is a Bay City I lived like 20 minutes away from the beach and it's like a perfect balance it's not too busy it's away from the hustle and bustle of a you know busy city it's very relaxing as well so you know you get the perfect balance to work to study and also party on weekends so yeah that's the most essential part I mean you have to do it it's otherwise like really demanding being an international student so yeah you need that break exactly because a lot of students that think back home like parents are don't do that to do this I think the moment you make it for a good university you are that much mature to know what is good for you and what is bad for you but yeah I definitely urge you to share some points for international students as a student in Australia and of course highlight around what they can get from G-long and why they should choose G-long sure so again G-long beautiful place you know it's very closest city that links to the Great Ocean Road as well and you know it's it's amazing how beautiful it is if you're into beaches you know there's plenty of beaches around and the deepened campus over here is massive as well great facilities all across the city and not just that the community it's a very welcome community because it's a small native community it also is very welcoming in my case I have found that whenever I have tried to make an effort to connect with G-long community it has responded back and you know it can be in terms of feet tours around the city be it new opportunities for networking for upskilling there's always things happening and the best part is for an international students chances are it will always be free so yeah why not take up on those opportunities and of course thanks for those insights as if one more thing did you stay on campus or was it like off campus so I was living right off campus but I'm actually still living here at the moment and it's just like five minutes walk from where I live so yeah pretty convenient do you have good public transport and everything over there yeah the transport system is actually pretty good so you know if you're walking five minutes to campus your closest bus stop is probably just three minutes away and the bus takes you all around the city your local grocery store if required so yeah it's pretty convenient and again Jolong is just like 40 minutes away from Melbourne as well so if you're trying to go to Melbourne for any work it's just one train right away hmm nice good and you get part-time jobs and stuff in Jolong right so what was your experience in terms of doing a part-time job and why do you think it's important for students to take a part-time job even if taken effort they live in sure so I think obviously you know you've answered part of it you know it pays for you but other than that taking upon part-time of casual work and also voluntary work honestly is so crucial because you know you get to work on yourself and you gain Australian local experience which is essential when you're going to be applying for professional jobs and yeah Jolong is pretty open to those opportunities be it in retail, hospitality, customer service or otherwise you always find opportunities around it hmm that's good that's good so with this we end the formula round off questions I'll say I'll have some rapid fire out with you now probably not really that much student or student life centric but you are sort of about you know what you do in a relation time so tell me which celebrity annoys you the most so let me give it a nice moment at the moment it's probably going to be Amber Hurts after the whole trial it's not going to get well yeah Amber Hurts at the moment so so you so I think you follow join depth yeah but I can do it quite quite evident so if you could trade lives with anyone for a day who did be and why I'm just curious what you know what what you know the angles will be seeing everything else oh yeah okay okay if you could talk in your sleep what do you say probably just song lyrics because yeah I you know play music when I go to bed and you know I just want to keep them running in my head all my blood So why not? Yeah, and subconscious might kind of end up singing the same thing yeah Where is the worst place you could get stuck first place, I could get stuck I'm going to dirty toilet If you were stranded on an island what three things would you want with you? I would probably have I don't know I can't think about my phone so that's one and my phone would need a charger so that's the other and sometimes that's clever source to keep my battery and charger going so those are guys cool that was smart last thing was really really smart thank you asif thank you for making it I know you're busy and it's pretty late in the night I think it's time for you to sleep and I'm sure I'm in this episode is going to be really helpful for insightful for students who are listening to this podcast goodnight asif and thanks for being here thank you for having me bus up goodnight thanks uh listeners will be back again a new episode with another new student new story stay tuned see you