Let's make it happen
Yaser Naseri was a born entrepreneur before he was forced to flee Iran. A University of Sydney scholarship opened the door to a marketing career and a personal quest to mentor other refugees.
In 2011, Yaser was 29 years old, and living in fear in Iran. His involvement with the Green Movement, a civil liberties group protesting what many believed was the fraudulent election of then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had put his life at risk.
“Close friends were arrested. A few were killed,” recounts Yaser. “You never know when they’re going to come after you. I had to leave.”
By December 17, 2011, he was on an overcrowded boat carrying 250 asylum seekers bound for Australia, when it capsized. Only 47 adults and children survived. They were detained in Indonesia for months and stuck in the country for several years.
Yaser was eventually granted refugee status, then a visa for Australia.
“I knew I wanted to go to uni, so I started a Certificate II in English at TAFE, and completed a Tertiary Preparation Course," he says. "Then came the good news that I was accepted into the University of Sydney’s Business School, with a scholarship.”
In 2011, Yaser was 29 years old, and living in fear in Iran. His involvement with the Green Movement, a civil liberties group protesting what many believed was the fraudulent election of then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had put his life at risk.
“Close friends were arrested. A few were killed,” recounts Yaser. “You never know when they’re going to come after you. I had to leave.”
By December 17, 2011, he was on an overcrowded boat carrying 250 asylum seekers bound for Australia, when it capsized. Only 47 adults and children survived. They were detained in Indonesia for months and stuck in the country for several years.
Yaser was eventually granted refugee status, then a visa for Australia.
“I knew I wanted to go to uni, so I started a Certificate II in English at TAFE, and completed a Tertiary Preparation Course," he says. "Then came the good news that I was accepted into the University of Sydney’s Business School, with a scholarship.”
URL
Seizing-every-opportunity
Seizing every opportunity
