After an 18-month application process to study at Central Queensland University in Rockhampton, 26-year-old Sylvia Forsung from Cameroon in Central Africa has arrived to study for her MBA degree.

After some confusion with her student visa, Sylvia passed her IELTS (English test required for student visas) with ‘flying colours’ and was soon on her way to Central Queensland with a CQU MBA scholarship under her wing.

“It has taken a long time to finally arrive here and I am very excited to be able to study here at CQU,” Sylvia said.

Recruitment & Client Relations Officer for CQU International Lavenia James said Sylvia was CQU’s first student from Cameroon.

“We have been working with Sylvia for some time now, in that she had met all our entry requirements, both academic and English, however due to the strict visa application process and because she had not sat the IELTS test, she was unable to join us until now.

“Now she is finally here, we are very excited to have her.”.

Sylvia worked in Cameroon as a radio journalist for almost three years before deciding on furthering her education through postgraduate study in Australia. She has now enrolled in CQU’s MBA program with the career goal of working in human resource management on graduation.

“My studies will take two years to complete and then I hope to gain permanent residency and use my new skills to work in Australia for a time.\\\".

Sylvia believes her MBA knowledge would be irrelevant in Cameroon as human resource practices there are so different to the new teachings here in Australia.

Cameroon has 10 provinces; two are English-speaking and the other eight are French-speaking. Sylvia lived in an English-speaking province and attended the University of Buea.

With over 215 dialects and 22 million people in Cameroon, the country is one of diverse cultures.

“Cameroon has two beautiful climates – a rainy and a dry season. During the rainy season it rains almost every day in some parts of the country and the dry season is hot.”.

Sylvia said Australia is more liberal than Cameroon. “The dress style is quite different. In Cameroon ... if a girl wore a short skirt, like what I see here at the university, she would be picked up by the police.”.

Since arriving at CQU just a few weeks ago, Sylvia said she has fitted in well and has made a lot of friends.

“I heard Australians were very friendly; now I know that is true. I am having a great time staying at Capricornia College and have also made friends with other international students from Korea and Japan. But I will be moving out from the residential college soon to share a flat with some friends.”.