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Creatrix Tiara
Community Coordinator at Pipeline Angels
Shenaniganist. Exploring liminality, community, and identity through the perspective of a queer genderqueer immigrant disabled femme of colour. ('Tiara'/they)
Highlights
My GLI MBA starts tomorrow. In about 12 hours+, we will have the first online session - a cocktail for Orientation. (Though it will be at 7am my time, so no booze for me.)
I didn't realize the MBA was so close until I set up my Notion page yesterday and keyed in all the dates for Sem 1. The time has really gotten away from me - esp in the last month, where I've been busy sorting out legal matters in Malaysia then returning immediately to a bombshell from Centrelink that I have to scramble to get a job they like in under a month because they don't believe me when I say I have more than enough money to support my mother. As it is, the wonders of DST means that my classes will fluctuate between 7am to 11am across the year (based on NY time), so finding a job that has a flex start time AND can work around my existing jobs AND still earn enough to keep Centrelink happy is going to be a challenge.
(There is some movement - I'm getting some help from my local rep & I've got a couple of job interviews set up. But nothing is certain.)
Arguably the MBA has already started. We were given a stack of readings about art & social impact a few weeks ago - a lot of which I completed at airport lounges & boarding lobbies. I also got an assignment to write around 600-1200 words on where I see myself in 5 years, mainly to plan our field internships. It's a wild Q - I've not had a consistent block of 5 years ever, but the last 5 years have been especially chaotic, with family deaths & lockdowns & 3 bouts of COVID taking me off stage & a failed business & etc. But it was in that period of time that I really saw the potential for video games & performing arts to come together, which has been my main pitch for this MBA, so hopefully I'll get an internship along those lines. Maybe with Hoyoverse (one of the best companies doing this integration) or Capcom (finally the Ace Attorney stage play!!) or maybe even Dropout? We'll see.
My plans to completely reorganize my home office were only partially realized, and the idea of starting this in a whole other country as an artist residency obviously hasn't happened. But here we are, less than 24 hours later.
Let's do this.
LinkedIn, I come to you in possibly a fit of desperation for one thing:
I need a job that pays at minimum $38,856.86 a year. In about 2 weeks.
Why that specific number?
About seven years ago, my parents applied for a Contributory Parent Visa, with me as the sponsor.
This April, on the literal day of my father's death, I get notified that Immigration has progressed this visa. Amongst other things, I now have to prove to Centrelink that I can provide for my mother for the next 10 years, as well as set aside AU$10,000 in a bond. I put in my Assurance of Support application, stating my freelance income and my AuslanServices work, my MBA that will lead to future opportunities, the substantial inheritance my dad left behind that will cover us for eons.
None of that matters. According to Centrelink, I don't yet earn at least $38,856.86, and unless I prove otherwise, my application will be rejected - and my mother's visa is compromised.
I find job-hunting difficult at the best of times, but I've had to put my efforts on hold the last few months since Dad died and I've had to go back and forth to Malaysia for legal matters. I got laid off from SENVIC earlier this year, but even that wouldn't have been enough. I just lost a lot of AuslanServices shifts because that's dependent on student requests and if they change their schedule, so do I.
My mother can't live on her own. Everyone is relying on this application to work because it's the only viable one so far. I can't let them down.
I was looking for part-time, for my own health & to work around the MBA & other work, but I don't think I have that luxury. I have classes on some AMs so the job should have a flexible start time, but other than that - if it can pay at least $38,856.86, and you'll let me do it, I'll do it.
Immigration is hell. Any help to make it less hell would matter a lot.
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