Having grown up in the Western Sydney region it seemed as though any man who aspired to be anything more than a labourer, and any woman who dared to enter the workforce was shunned by the broader community.
No one in my family has been a teacher or a doctor or anyone of influence. We have kept to the same pattern of hard laborious jobs or being locked up. But I always saw this as a form of motivation for myself. I want to break that mould. I want to prove to my sisters that our family name doesn’t restrict us. I want to study medicine and eventually become a doctor. I want to make a difference and give back to my community.
Growing up in the suburb of Punchbowl is most certainly the reason why I am who I am. The exposure I received at a young age of seeing criminal activity from things as simple as lighting bins on fire to a domestic violence incident, turned attempted murder, eventually took its toll on me. For a while, I perceived this to be “normal” due to the fact that it occurred so frequently. However, as I grew older, I began to realise that just because something happens so often, and seems accepted by the community, does not necessarily mean it is normal.
I did not want to head down this path. Whether it be the kid lighting bins on fire or being a constant nuisance within the community; I want to do everything in my power to ensure that it never happens and that for anyone who is stuck here, that I can try to help them change.
Marouf, with his sister left, wants to be a doctor. Photo: Saber Baluch Source: Saber Baluch/Insight
Through years of trialling various hobbies and sports, in the hope of finding an outlet in which I could make a difference, it occurred to me I had always had my answer. My education.
I was always an average student and it was something I was content with, until I reached the time in life where I had to select a high school.
My mother and I spent countless hours researching the various opportunities offered by our local schools, as well as the programs that were in place to potentially help me alter the previously mentioned misconceptions within the community. We came across Sir Joseph Banks High School and eventually decided to enrol.
Fast forward five years.
I am still at the school, currently in Year 12. Now although my entire journey throughout school has been far from perfect, it does not take away from the fact that I loved every moment at this school.
Every teacher at SJBHS that has been with me on my schooling journey has maintained the same level of passion and dedication throughout the entire process. Whether it be staying back with students after school or sacrificing their recess, lunches and even mornings the teachers have, and always will, continue to go above and beyond to ensure that we not only have our questions answered but we are as relaxed and happy as possible. It goes beyond the student-teacher relationship; the school has established a ‘second family’ culture.
Our relationships with our teachers means we are constantly being heard and we feel as though we are equals and not inferiors. Our individual requirements are being met. And I can confidently say that this has played an indispensable role in creating the unique personalities that each student has acquired over their time at the school.
As for myself, my time at the school has allowed me to grow as a person. My lunches spent in staffrooms with teachers willing to listen to me and help me, the instant replies to emails that I would send asking for help, the countless drafts that were proofread by every single one of my teachers allowed me to see that there was hope for someone like me, because if someone was spending this much time to educate and help me and my peers, then they clearly saw potential. There was hope for anyone and everyone. It was possible.
And I realised: People were never “shunning” us, they weren’t being rude, and it was nothing personal. But rather, it was simply because of their lack of exposure to someone from a non-English speaking background, from a low-socioeconomic area being able to ‘do it’.
I want to break this mould and not just through the fulfilment of my own dreams, but by setting the foundation for others in similar circumstances, to hopefully empower them and help them understand that they can succeed. Regardless of life’s unfair circumstances for many people, we must not dwell, but rather use these difficulties and this negativity that we may endure, to motivate us and drive us to not prove other people wrong, but to prove to yourself that you can do it and nothing will stop you.
