Adelaide bridging visa student Hayat Nowruzi writes book, wins university scholarship
Even when he spent time in immigration detention on Christmas Island, now-Adelaide resident Hayat Nowruzi nurtured a habit of grasping every opportunity.
"It was stressful, but it was also a big opportunity for me to improve my English," he said of his time in detention after, as a 17-year-old, he arrived on the island by boat in 2013.
"I'd learnt some English in Afghanistan, but it wasn't at a good level, so I was focused on improving my English in the detention centre."
Mr Nowruzi fled Afghanistan because his Hazara ethnic group had long faced regional persecution.
In 2014 another opportunity arose and he became a student of Adelaide's Rostrevor College.
Principal Simon Dash said the boys' school had a long tradition of taking on refugee and asylum seeker students.
"I see this as part of our charter to really be looking for people on the margins and what we can do to assist them," he said.
"Today in Australia some of the most marginalised people are the asylum seekers and that's something we have a deep commitment to, the people who are doing it tough."
Mr Nowruzi lived in the school's boarding house and studied every evening, apart from Fridays.
He developed a liking for Australian pies.
"I liked pie night when they'd serve us pies for dinner in the cafeteria. I tried kangaroo meat and liked that too, but pies are my favourite," he said.
As part of his ongoing efforts to become proficient in English the young man wrote a book, Ahmad and his Friends, the story of an Afghan school boy who loses his way and skips classes until he makes a new friend.
"The book is about hard work and the importance of choosing good friends wisely," Mr Nowruzi said.
"With the value of hard work I was trying to say [that] whatever you are doing today, tomorrow we are going to see the result."
Scholarship opportunity at Adelaide University
His work ethic has now been rewarded with a scholarship to support his Adelaide University studies, but his old school principal Simon Dash said such opportunities also highlighted a shortcoming.
"I didn't know about this until Hayat told me, but he's on a bridging visa and that means he's not eligible for HECS," Mr Dash explained.
"The only way Hayat and anyone else on a bridging visa can pursue higher education would be as a full fee-paying student and that effectively rules them out."
Mr Dash would like to see the HECS rules changed, but federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said a balance needed to be struck.
"People on bridging visas do not have permanent residency rights," Senator Birmingham said.
Unlike people on bridging visas, those with humanitarian visas are entitled to HECS loans because they have a right to stay in Australia.
Mr Nowruzi said he would love to remain in Australia, if allowed.
"As an Afghan who fled a war-torn place, I really feel privileged and grateful for living in this country and that's because here I am treated as a human," he said.
At least something of his Australian journey now has a permanent place — his book sits on the shelves of the Rostrevor College library.
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