Dina Thankom Jacob

In her own words

I always dreamt of pursuing my higher education away from my home country in a university of excellence. La Trobe, with its rich array of academic activities, ambience, and fantastic extra-curricular activities has fulfilled this dream.

I was born and brought up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. My father works in the Indian embassy and my mother works as a head nurse. I have two siblings. I completed my schooling in an International Indian School, Riyadh, KSA. My father is known as a “Jack of All trades”; I believe I inherited my keenness to research, logical thinking and creativity, from him. An avid desire to learn and an innate desire to be an electronics engineer helped me acquire my undergraduate studies from Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology, Peermade, Kerala, India. After my studies I worked at the CADD Center, Ernakulam, Kerala, India as career counsellor and administrator, and then joined the UST Global Pvt Ltd as software developer for two years to learn new technologies.

I believe in the proverb “If there is a will, there is always a way”. At present, I am pursuing a postgraduate course in Electronics Engineering. When I got my visa to come to Australia I was so grateful to La Trobe for giving me the opportunity to learn and upgrade my skills. Due to a delay in my visa approval, I missed most student orientation activities. My exploration of this wide campus was done personally. The facilities provided by the University are so incredible, and the support provided to international students has been amazing.

My elders always encouraged me to be a role model and to help others.   We started serving the society as social workers, missionary workers and counsellors from my forefathers’ generations onwards, in which we still continue to do now by both of my parents' families. I believe I got the helping character from my family. When you help others in their needs you will feel more happy and blessed, but more than that you have shown them that there is light even in the midst of darkness.

I have joined several University clubs and teams (in ISS, LTSU, Connect Volunteer and FOCUS). The best part of these roles is educating fellow students about the University and the facilities and opportunities it provides.  I am very proud to be a LaTrobian and to be part of many wonderful teams!