Seba making the most of NSF opportunities

Seba Alabdo is a shining example of a newly arrived migrant who has taken full advantage of every available opportunity at Navitas Skilled Futures.

Within less than nine months of arriving from Syria, the 35-year-old expectant mum has undertaken AMEP classes, the Pathways to Work Customer Service Course, Preparation for IELTS and Citizenship class, and a holiday makeup course, as well as having started a driving course, completed two weeks’ of work experience at a dental medical centre and she is now a trained and practicing AMEP volunteer tutor.

But Seba, who was a passionate English teacher in her home country for 14 years, says this is just the beginning for her, with plans for more learning, to eventually become a teacher in Australia, and return to the profession she loves.

“Step by step I am getting there,” she says. “It’s like a journey for me. When you love something it is easy for you and so I am doing everything I can to get that chance in the future to be something important.”

Seba although she had good functional English when she came to Australia, she needed improvement and practice, but she could not find people who were willing to talk to her in English every day.

“One beautiful morning I read on my visa that I could take free English classes at Navitas. I didn’t hesitate to go and discover this amazing place.”

Seba joined Bankstown College and said it not only helped with English practice, it introduced her to friends from other parts of the world, teachers who were like family and it started her on a path of self development.

“Navitas College is very adorable and beautiful for all the students who come to Australia from overseas in order to get a chance to learn English,” Seba says. “It has the best courses with the best professional teachers and all these courses, they are free. And I know that they it costs a lot, so it’s a beautiful thing to get this chance, especially if someone doesn’t have money in the beginning.

“I am so thankful for all the team and I thank for all the teachers who helped me to arrive to this situation.”

Seba, who married an Australian citizen and whose first child is due in December, plans to go to university to get her Bachelor in Education. She hopes to have some credit from her Syrian qualifications in English Literature and practical experience in teaching. In the meantime she is tutoring a 53-year-old Syrian woman who lives next door to her as part of the Volunteer Tutor Program.

“She’s very lovely and she wants to learn English, so I’m trying to help had as much as I can,” Seba says.

“And actually, it’s something for me too. I’m enjoying it a lot, because it becomes a part of my life. And then when something is part of your life, it becomes very normal for you. So then you need something more, something higher than that.”

Seba says she is happy to be seen as an example to others of how to embrace opportunities in Australia and strive for success. She says she is now living a dream that started as child in Syria.

“Since my childhood I loved the English language,” she says. “And I put in my mind a lot of stuff about travelling and about teaching English. When you put something in your mind, your unconscious, you attract all the things that are beautiful to you. So I got the chance and I got married to my husband, and he told me about how much it’s beautiful in Australia and how I can study and integrate into the community. And today here I am.”