Building a new future from the ground up

Fadi, 24, who graduated from the Bachelor of Civil Engineering in 2024, and his mum, Valantina, share how the Northcote Trust Scholarship has helped the whole family thrive in their new life.

As Christians living in Iraq we were always an easy target for Muslim extremists. My parents had enough of running away from war, hiding and not knowing when it was going to be our last day. There was no future left for myself and my brothers Alfred, 20, and Fedrek, 17. The only choice we had was to flee and seek asylum from Lebanon to get to Australia, where we had some family. We only had three days to prepare and get out.

In Lebanon, I had no school for five months. I forced myself to learn English so by the time I got here, I was ready to keep going with school. I was 15 when we arrived. My parents relied heavily on me to help them get what they needed, especially my dad. He can’t understand English as well as my mum but she learned faster than anybody else.

In April 2019 I was in year 12 and I had to have surgery on my back which took months to heal. While I was going through that I also had to help my parents with their studies at TAFE and my brothers with their schoolwork. This limited the amount of time I had to focus on myself, which led to me having a bad ATAR. My school’s career counsellor suggested that I do a diploma in engineering as a pathway to an undergraduate degree – that way my ATAR didn’t matter.

I started the Advanced Diploma of Engineering Technology in 2020 and within the first three months we were told not to come because of COVID-19. When that happened, we didn’t know what to do. Mum was taking care of everything. I saw the struggle and thought, “I gotta do something”. But I had no job and no income. 

Then RMIT sent me an email telling me there were scholarships I could apply for. The Northcote Trust Scholarship matched me best so I filled out the form and forgot about it. When I received the email telling me I was accepted I was praising God! It was perfect timing. 

Mum taught me how to budget so I had money for buying books and paying for things like the internet. Sometimes I paid for groceries when my mum was sick and she couldn’t cook at home. I started the Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Civil and Infrastructure) in 2022. I was also working casual hours during my first internship with [civil engineering firm] Fulton Hogan. When I got close to the end of the internship, I was asked if I wanted to stay – of course, I accepted. From there, I had to manage uni, work and life all at the same time. 

I was working approximately five days on top of uni and everybody – including my mentors – were telling me to enjoy life, but I was determined to balance both, no matter what. I tell my brothers to keep going forward, keep pushing yourself. That’s what our parents taught us from the beginning.

It got to a point halfway through 2023 where my university load got too much and I had to take time off work. But when uni was on a break, I worked as much as I could. With the internship and scholarship, I didn’t need to do any other work. I built up experience and my network in the industry quickly. 

I’m grateful for this whole experience: uni, the scholarship, my internship and the opportunity to come to Australia. It’s like a butterfly effect where one thing touches another thing and the whole narrative changes.

We had tried to come to Australia in 2015 but we were rejected and had to go back to Iraq and apply again. When we got the call in 2016, we knew we only had one shot – we would not be able to try again. That’s why I’m so grateful. Like my mum says, “We always try until we get the results. Once we get the results, we just go and try harder for a different thing.”

I was a vice-principal in a high school in my country. I have faith in education and health: they are always a priority. If you have a degree, you can go places. Yes, it will take time, yes it will be challenging, but at the end of the day you can do it. 

We left Iraq in August 2016 and went to Lebanon, where we had to wait five months to get our humanitarian visa. We came to Australia on 24 January 2017. 

At first, I studied English, then I did a Certificate III and IV in business administration and accounting and got a job as an education counsellor. My husband, Fuad, and I attended English classes together but it was harder for him to get a job. Before, he worked in sales, but he can’t do that here because of the language. He’s a good driver so he decided to be an Uber driver which he enjoys and he gets to practise English.

Fadi needed surgery when he was in year 12. If he had needed the surgery in Iraq, he would not have got a good enough score to go to university. In Iraq you only get one chance. There are no alternative pathways to a degree like there are here. When Fadi started an Advanced Diploma of Civil Engineering at RMIT, that was a very proud thing for us. We were really lucky. The timing was everything.

In 2020 I was working full time but when the COVID lockdowns happened they reduced our hours. Then I got COVID before the vaccines and I was very sick. The government helped out a bit, but it was very hard.

The scholarship came at the perfect time. There were lots of bills to pay and I was the only one working at that time, so it was hard for us to survive. Fadi could pay for whatever he needed to keep going and save something so he could help the family.

Now, Fadi does everything. I can drive but he’s always saying, “Mum, don’t think about it. I’ll pick you up and drop you off whenever you want.” He’s very thoughtful and helpful.

When Alfred saw Fadi getting a job he was so proud; encouraging him to do more and keep going. When Fadi sees Alfred doing something he will say “I’m proud of you”, but he will also tell him he can do more, like saving money or getting better grades in school. They are very competitive but they also encourage each other. Fedrek, who is now in year 12 is aiming to get a high ATAR so he can get direct entry to the Bachelor of Engineering.

My work now is dealing with international students getting offers from universities. My friends in Iraq say they are proud and sometimes jealous that I have this opportunity, but it’s because I try. It’s been hard learning English and I’m not perfect, but I try. I’m always telling my sons to try everything in life. 

I’m so thankful to the Northcote Trust, RMIT and all the people who donate to scholarships. It’s hard work to ask people to give you money when there is no benefit to them. The only benefit is knowing that they are helping people. If we had stayed in Iraq, a lot of bad, bad things could have happened.

Students like Fadi have to be thankful that there is someone thinking of them. They have to remember that the money doesn’t come easy, that people have to save to donate so that students can get their degree. I thank all the people who do good things like this. 

The Northcote Trust has been supporting RMIT students since 2008.

Northcote Trust Scholarships provide up to $5,000 per year for students who have progressed or intend to progress from an RMIT diploma to an undergraduate degree in a similar field.