For the past four or five years, I feel like I have been surviving rather than living.
I moved to Australia with the hope of building a stable life and career. I completed my master’s degree, kept working, applied for jobs, attended interviews, learned new skills and tried to do everything people tell migrants to do. But despite all of that, I still haven’t been able to find stable work in the field I studied for.
Recently, I came extremely close to securing a proper Data Analyst role. I cleared multiple interview stages, completed an assignment and reached the final round. I genuinely believed that this might finally be the opportunity that changed my situation. When I was rejected at the end, it broke something in me. It wasn’t just another rejection. It felt like losing the life and stability I had imagined would come with it.
During these years, I have also dealt with multiple health problems and surgeries. I reached nearly 190 kg at my heaviest, lost more than 80 kg, went through bariatric surgery, complications and further surgery. I have fought addiction, stopped drinking and tried repeatedly to rebuild myself physically and mentally.
I know I have survived a lot, but I am tired of only being told that I am strong. I don’t want my entire life to be about how much pain I can tolerate.
Financially, I am struggling. I am a migrant without access to Medicare, and professional mental health support can cost an enormous amount. When you are already broke and trying to cover rent, bills, food and debt, paying hundreds of dollars for therapy does not feel realistically possible.
I currently do part-time work and things like Uber or rideshare to survive. I understand that work is work, and I am grateful that I have some way to earn money, but doing this indefinitely feels like a prison. Every day is about making enough to survive the next week, without getting closer to the career or life I came here to build.
I feel stuck between not wanting to leave Australia and being unable to find a sustainable way to stay. Going back feels like giving up on everything I sacrificed to come here, but continuing like this is exhausting me financially, emotionally and mentally.
The loneliness makes everything worse. I don’t have a partner or a strong support system around me every day. People often give advice, but much of it comes from people who have never had to deal with migration, visa uncertainty, financial pressure, health problems and repeated career rejection all at the same time.
I am not asking for motivational quotes or to be told to “just keep applying.” I have been doing that. I am asking for honest advice from anyone who has been trapped in a similar survival cycle and eventually found a way forward.
How did you rebuild your life when you were exhausted, broke and unsure whether the country you had chosen still had a place for you? How do you decide whether to keep fighting, change careers, move countries or start again?
Right now, I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. I am trying to hold on and find a path that gives me more than just another week of survival. I could really use some understanding, support and practical advice.
