New Humans of Australia: Gazelle

It was my dream to come to Australia from when I was 17. That was 17 years ago. We didn’t know much about Australia, not many people had access to the internet in Iran in those days, but my Uncle had been fortunate to move to Sydney, and would send us letters with wonderful descriptions of the life he had here, and photos of the things he was seeing. I made it my goal to come here, and every choice I made was to lead me here.

I was born in Tehran, Iran in 1990, and was the first daughter to my mum and dad. My sister came 4 years later. My father had a good job, and my mother was a homemaker, my sister and I had a wonderful childhood.

I went to the local primary and high school, and loved art and design from when I was 7 years old; my favourite thing to do was to paint. My art teacher saw my design skills from when I was very young, and through my schooling I was the top student in this subject. I wanted to be a graphic designer, and was fortunate to receive two scholarships recognising my talent – first for my Undergraduate degree, and then for my Masters, both in Graphic Design in the top universities Tehran.

I met my husband in 2010, it was an arranged marriage – he liked me immediately and our mothers set us up to meet. After about 6 months he came over to visit and brought a camera – it was the first time I thought that we had something in common. I was very clear to him from the start that I wanted to live in Australia, and he supported my studies and my dreams, we were married in 2011, when I was 21. 

My daughter was born in 2017, and when she was 1, we tried again to come to Australia. By this time, we qualified for a highly skilled visa, and we had an assessment and passed the relevant exams. The dream was so vivid, so close! But of course then the COVID 19 pandemic started, and Australia shut its doors, so did Iran. We had our second child in 2020, during the pandemic, and although it was difficult, it was beautiful to be able to spend so much time together as a family, as my husband was able to work from home.

Finally, in 2022, we received the invitation letter and the visa to come to Australia. It felt amazing, my dream would be realised. I didn’t feel fear or sadness to leave Iran, I felt hope, and excitement – this is what I had wanted for so long.

We arrived in Sydney in May 2023. It was 7am and raining. As soon as I stepped foot on the ground of Australia I said to myself “Gazelle, you got your dream, its happened”. I felt so positive about our future here, I was without hesitation or nerves. After one month, my husband was fortunate to get a great job here in Sydney in the CBD as a mechanical designer. 

“Gazelle, you got your dream, its happened”

Gazelle, on her arrival in Australia in 2023

I stayed home with our kids for the first few months, to help them settle, and I enrolled in English classes to improve my confidence in speaking. I made so many friends doing the AMEP, many from Afghanistan and Syria, but I was one of only a few Iranians. Making friends helped me to settle into Australian society, made me feel really at home being amongst people who were also starting again.

My daughter is at the top of her class for English, it’s amazing. Both of my kids know themselves as Australians now. They are both bilingual now, they think in both languages. Its important to us that they retain their Persian culture, so we cook Persian food, listen to Persian music and celebrate our cultural festivals.

Gazelle

Iran

Arrived May 2023.