"We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people.
——Erin Bury
As an International student myself, I appreciate the convenience that the Internet has brought to my life in Australia. Taking use of the advantages of online media, our online project, Sydney Studymate, aims to provide more international students with useful information to facilitate their study and life in Sydney.
Australia is one of the most popular study destinations for international students. Up to 2011, there are more than 550,000 international students’ enrolments in Australia.
We were first inspired by the online version of a student magazine called UniLife, which incorporates the issues that international students face into their content. With four international students in our group, we ourselves strongly feel the necessity of improving support services for international students here.
But UniLife Magazine is only distributed at the University of South Australia offline. We then narrowed our publication focus to international students in Sydney and switched to Sydney-based student magazines such as Globe, Blitz and Grapeshot.
Much online information available to international students does not really match our own experiences. Take the living expenses as an example. The off-campus living cost suggested on Sydney Uni website is $313 to $413+ per week, but my personal cost is usually around $250 per week.
That does not mean one has to sacrifice life quality for increasing saving quantity. Actually, there are better ways to live a decent life with less money.
Let’s get away from mathematical estimates and suggestions from those who have never been ‘aliens’ themselves.
As international students ourselves, we can give others more trustworthy advices. We decided to use this advantage.
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