Mahsa's story

It was the Christmas season, December 2014, when Mahsa Nabizada and her family came to live in Australia. Although the culture around the Christian celebration was unfamiliar to them, Mahsa recalls the amazing support of the community, home visits and being on the receiving end of local Toowoomba hospitality.

“It was different, but the sense of community was the first thing I noticed here in Toowoomba,” says Mahsa, as with poise and confidence she keenly engages with Sorgul Maho in an interview for the You Belong podcast ‘Who is My Neighbour’. Mahsa elaborates on settling into life in Toowoomba, school, leadership projects she has become involved with and her aspirations for the future. With a deep desire to give back to the country that has been so good to her, this new Australian is already on a pathway to success and influence.

Mahsa was born in Afghanistan and spent some time in Pakistan before coming to Australia with her family and settling in Toowoomba. She attended Newtown State School and is now a student at Fairholme College.

Initially Mahsa found it difficult to connect with people due to her limited English language skills, however her friends, school and other people were amazingly helpful and understanding. “I was able to get through that with the community,” emphasised Mahsa. She now speaks English fluently and has also been able to maintain her language skills in Dari (Persian) and Urdu by communicating in these languages with her many friends from diverse backgrounds. Mahsa utilises her linguistic skills to host community radio programs in different languages - sharing news, culture and music. For her, it is essential that migrants with limited English language proficiency have access to information in their first language.

Mahsa finds school life busy but enjoys the Maths and Science subjects she’s chosen. “My passion lies in health and medicine and that is something that I’d like to pursue after school, to be able to contribute back to the society in a positive way,” she said.

Mahsa is also interested in politics and is involved with the Queensland Youth Parliament, which, she explains, “is a program for young people across Queensland, for them to have an opportunity to learn about the political process, to get a taste of what politics is like and also be able to make a contribution back to society and to make a change to what they are passionate about.” Through the program she has met many young people with the same vision as herself, to make meaningful contributions to society in varying capacities and roles.

Since 2018 she has also been a Youth Leader with the Toowoomba Regional Council where she has had the opportunity to work on projects supporting a range of youth related issues. “I’ve been able to advocate for youth homelessness and I’ve learnt about different issues in the community and be a voice for young people,” said Mahsa.

In addition to her regular school responsibilities and community involvement, Mahsa has also taken USQ Head Start courses designed for high achieving secondary students to enhance their study skills and get a taste of what university is like.

Mahsa’s advice to other young people with a refugee background is “to embrace Australia; embrace the new community and also get involved. It’s so important to get involved in the community, take up those opportunities that come your way, work hard but also have fun and and try to give back to the community by taking opportunities like volunteering, like being part of different youth groups, by researching and also follow your passions.”

Watch the complete interview here: