3 Key Benefits To Representing The City Of Brisbane

Some university students are lucky enough to represent the state capital, their nationality and their university as they enjoy some of the best experiences that Queensland has to offer.

Living and studying in Brisbane provides great access to the events and lifestyle of Queensland’s state capital and puts international students well within reach of some of Australia’s best travel destinations. It’s also a great place to meet new people, make new friendships that can last a lifetime and develop your career.

We recently caught up with Brisbane International Student Ambassador Ameet Kumar for a chat at the Nathan campus about the benefits of studying in Brisbane and how he became a student ambassador to the world…

Ameet is one of six Griffith University students chosen this year to represent Brisbane.

“Living in Australia is the best part of my life so far!” says Ameet as we settle in for our chat in the Campus Heart at Nathan.

“The people are very friendly and made me feel so welcome.

“I feel I have benefitted a lot from studying in Brisbane and can give you three reasons why I would recommend becoming a student ambassador to other students and those are the social, cultural and professional opportunities I have discovered.”

1. What are the social benefits?

“It has been my good fortune to become a Brisbane International Student Ambassador (BISA).” He said.

“The role of a student ambassador is to communicate with our home country about our experiences and the cultural life of Brisbane.

“It is also to welcome international students to to their new home as no one knows the feeling of arriving to begin student life in a new country and a new city like the students who have come before you.

“I get to represent Brisbane to my own and other countries through social media and I get to improve my English language and professional skills by participating in the cultural life of the city. We also get invited to some amazing social events and adventure experiences.

“So far we have done many events but the best event that I enjoyed a lot was the first lord mayor friendship ceremony. I was feeling so special among the thousands of students.

“I have also lived on campus for 6 months in what was a very multicultural house with students from eight different countries. It was a good platform for me to meet new people and make social networks, which leads to more fun here in Brisbane and being part of the community.”

2. How have gained from the cultural experiences?

“There are some cultural challenges to studying when you are from a non-English background, but the social environment Griffith University is very good with many support and mentoring programs to help students.

“I have studied a bachelor of chemical engineering and am now doing my masters in environmental engineering, which is very interesting for me, but there is much more to life than study.

“So I joined the Griffith Mates to become more involved in the university and they were very helpful and supportive of me becoming a Brisbane International Student Ambassador for Study Brisbane.

“In fact the Study Brisbane BISA program employs about 40 student ambassadors from 26 different countries, so it is a multicultural experience for all of us including the organisers.

“I have gained many friends who I learn from every day.

3. What can you tell us about the professional opportunities?

“I had to do an interview for the role, which was a good learning experience. They encourage us to develop our professional skills, to make presentations, to work as a team and to get the most we can out of our travel and study experiences.

“It is a volunteer role, where we get to meet and greet new international students as they experience Brisbane for the first time and help to make them feel at home.

“There is also a big welcome event held at Brisbane city hall for about 1000 new students, which was my favourite event as an ambassador so far. We get to share those experiences with other friends and especially our families back home on Facebook and Instagram.

“Another event was the ‘Luminous Lantern Parade 2016’ at South Bank with about 15,000 people. It was a good way for me to meet new people and make social networks, which leads to more fun here in Brisbane and being part of the community.

“It is very good volunteer work experience too, which is well respected by employers these days and it can add to our leadership skills and professional development in our resume when looking for employment in the future.”

Thanks for reading!

Diana Oros, bachelor of business student and social media reporter for the Griffith collective