Australia Awards South and West Asia

Saruul Orshikh recently completed a Master of Public Policy and Management at the University of Melbourne, with the support of an Australia Awards Scholarship.

In the following video, filmed in the final year of her Scholarship, Saruul discusses her experiences as an Australia Awards scholar in Australia.

Saruul works for the Governor’s Office of Uvs Province, in the western part of Mongolia, more than 1300 km from the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. There, she works as a Foreign Relations Officer. It was in this role that she first encountered the Australia Awards office in Mongolia. In efforts to increase the number of Scholarship applicants from remote and rural areas, Australia Awards came to Uvs Province to conduct information sessions and reach local eligible candidates. “I was helping them to organise the meetings,” Saruul says, “and then I thought, ‘Why not apply for myself?’” She saw that she could lead by example and encourage the younger people who live in isolated areas locally to apply for the opportunity themselves.

Saruul is also a role model of persistence: her first application was not successful, so she applied a second time and then received the Scholarship. “I wanted to make some changes and to polish my career,” she says. “Even though I have many years’ experience working in public administration, […] I needed to improve my qualification and Australia Awards Scholarship program gave me that chance.”

Studying in Australia, Saruul says, was “a lifechanging experience”. In her opinion, “Australia is one of the leading countries in education.” She says that “the teaching method at the university is student-centric” and that “the subject coordinators, professors are very supportive”. Her master’s degree at the University of Melbourne gave her the chance to study “global trends about policy making and how the different stakeholders and different actors contribute to policy-making”. Having learnt best practices at an international level, she has now returned to Mongolia. “I’ll do my best to implement […] what I have learnt,” she says. “I will use this knowledge and skills […] at local level, so it will contribute to the development of my hometown.”

Saruul (front row, middle) with other Australia Awards scholars from South Asia and Mongolia in Melbourne.

Saruul’s Australia Awards Scholarship, she points out, gave her more than the chance to compete her master’s degree: it also “[gave] us a big chance to widen our network”, she says. “While studying here I met lots of students from other countries, [became] good friends with them and also meanwhile exchange our ideas.” She adds that these students came from different backgrounds. “It’s a multicultural country, so I can meet lots of people and do some networking here.”

Australia Awards even supported Saruul to bring her family to Australia during her Scholarship. “My son studies here at high school and he really enjoys making lots of friends,” she said during her final year in Australia. “Also, my husband and my elder son are here and they really like living here and studying here.”

Outside of her studies, Saruul mentions enjoying yoga and meditation classes during the semesters and attending events to improve her public speaking skills. In addition, she did more than 80 hours of volunteering for the City of Melbourne and helping with international student tourism. While she was doing this, she explored her new city thoroughly. “There are lot of things to do and to see in Melbourne,” she says. “Melbourne is famous for its coffee shops […] so I explored many coffee places in here and shared with my friends in Mongolia.” The fine dining opportunities also caught her eye. “There are lots of restaurants from different countries,” she points out. “For example, I live at Lygon St and it’s full of restaurants of Greek, Italian cultures, so I like these kinds of places, and I try to visit most often.”

Saruul (far right) volunteering with the City of Melbourne.

Saruul has a clear message for anyone who is thinking about applying for an Australia Awards Scholarship: “If you have some inspiration, if you have some goals, just go for it, because Australia Awards Scholarship program gives you lots of opportunity,” she says. “For example, even though I work for the local government for nearly 25 years, it gave me a big opportunity to come here and study in one of the leading universities in the world, and it’s a lifechanging experience for me.”

For other people like her from remote areas, her message is even clearer: “People from outside of the capital city,” she says, “Don’t hesitate, just prepare well and apply!”