BRISBANE, Australia – Dieter Dizon, a Filipino student living in Brisbane, was selected in March 2011 as an official Brisbane international student ambassador, alongside 28 students from 23 different nationalities.
Dizon believes that by becoming a student ambassador, he can easily share his experiences to the Filipino people.
He graduated from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) in 2006 with a degree in Computer Science. He got the highest distinction for his design and implementation of “Machine Vision Fire Detection on Video Sequences.” He was also named one of the Top 10 most outstanding youth of Laguna by Gawad San Luis Foundation in 2005.
In 2010, Dizon moved to Australia to study after receiving a scholarship from Australia Awards, an Australian government’s internationally competitive scholarship program. He was also nominated as one of the most outstanding international students in Queensland Education and Training International (QETI) Awards 2010 among thousands of students coming from 160 countries.
The total 29 ambassadors were selected by Brisbane Marketing’s Study Brisbane program, and officially announced by Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman at the Brisbane Welcomes International Student event. Their key responsibility is to promote Brisbane as an international student destination in their home countries by communicating their real life experiences.
It is the second year Dizon was appointed as an ambassador. This year, Xavier Villagonzalo from Siliman University was also selected to join the ambassadorship program.
“It’s important to me to have someone represent the Philippines and to establish the Filipino student community in Brisbane,” Dizon said.
“There are lots of popular cities in Australia, US and UK known for their world-class education offering. I decided Brisbane for many reasons, including: quality education, safety, leisure and outdoor activities, student support system, more affordable living, student concessions and availability of student jobs,” he added.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said Brisbane’s international student ambassadors played an important role in promoting the city as an international student destination to their home countries.
“I think these ambassadors are the perfect candidates to tell the world what a vibrant and multicultural city Brisbane is,” Newman said. “We want to spread the word that Brisbane is a new world city offering world class education opportunities… And the best way to do this is with firsthand accounts from our student ambassadors.”
The Brisbane International Student Ambassador program forms part of Brisbane Marketing’s Study Brisbane program, dedicated to advancing the development of Brisbane’s international student sector.
“The ambassador program is all about creating global advocates for Brisbane. As our ambassadors return to their home countries, they may become leaders in industry and government who create strong global connections for Brisbane,” John Aitken, Brisbane Marketing’s CEO, said.
“While the ambassadors integrate and interact with their student peers and the Brisbane community, they also help to enrich us with cultural diversity that benefits local businesses and domestic students who may also study overseas,” he added.
The 29 ambassadors represent some of Brisbane’s largest source markets, including China, India, South Korea, Brazil and Taiwan. The students are aged between 22 and 35, and are studying a wide range of education courses in Brisbane such as business, journalism, medicine, and government policy.
Filipinos interested to study in Brisbane are invited to visit and post enquiries in the ambassadors’ page at www.studybrisbane.com. (PR)