Colombian student finds second home in Sydney

Diploma of Business student Maria Camila Lopez
Diploma of Business student Maria Camila Lopez

After completing high school in her hometown of Bogota, Camila Lopez was not sure what to do next. She knew studying in Australia was an option – her brother and cousins previously studied here.

“I had to decide between studying in Australia or Colombia. My cousins encouraged me to come to Sydney. I knew it would help me find a better job and develop a better social network,” Camila said.

To help her settle into her study, she started working with a cousin in a law firm and with another cousin a real estate office.

Through the tie-knit Colombian community, she met Aline Chiron, Partner Manager at UTS Insearch - the pathway to UTS. Aline helped to understand the benefits of studying a Diploma of Business and the opportunities this could lead to at UTS.

“I am currently going well with my study. I am getting very good grades whilst working. By working and studying hard, I feel like I can pay back my parents for all the years they have invested in me,” Camila said.

“I would like to pursue a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Marketing and International Business.”

In her spare time, she enjoys gymnastics and looks to forward to joining the gymnastics club at UTS.

Maria already has a clear idea of where she would like to go with her career

“My ideal job would be working overseas in marketing. I like the idea of destination marketing – or promoting a destination to visitors, tourists and students to visit,” Camila said.

“If I could work in the support staff of an international humanitarian body like Medicines Sans Frontiers that would be great too.”