Length: 1:33

[On-screen text: Adiba Erfan, Hawthorn Melbourne, International Student of the Year – Premier’s Award]

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Adiba Erfan:

Coming to Melbourne felt like rebuilding a beautiful sandcastle after the waves flattened it. Using the same materials, but with strength and certainty.

I have wanted to study medicine for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Afghanistan, it wasn't just a career. It was my identity. Even when everything  changed, it was the one thing I held on to.

Studying English at Hawthorn Melbourne gave me confidence and provided a pathway to both further education and fulfilling life in Australia.

It was the first time I had been in an environment with people from around the world. And sharing my story in class helped me start to build my confidence.

What I gained from this experience still shapes me now. As I pursue neuroscience at the University of Melbourne, I realised how powerful education can be when someone gives you a chance.

That understanding helped me inspire the Pink Education Foundation. It began with my sister, who was banned from school in Afghanistan at 13 years old. And me, finding a way to have her home-schooled.

Now we are teaching more than 150 students. Excitingly, two of the teachers at Hawthorn Melbourne are joining us as volunteers.

Melbourne unlocked parts of me I didn't even know existed. It taught me resilience, emotional strength, and how much power there is in education and health.

[On-screen text: Victorian International Education Awards 2025, Presented by Study Melbourne, Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place Melbourne]

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