Then one day in 2013, my union organiser asked me to speak at the forum at Victoria University to challenge the mayoral candidates to make a commitment to pay a living wage. It was the first time I had ever spoken in public and I was speaking on behalf of about 100 cleaners. I was scared and I wanted to turn away when I saw that The Hub was packed. But the response to my speech changed something inside me. Before I spoke, I threw away the speech that I had prepared before and I spoke from my heart. I said to the students, "I see you each night studying and working away at your degrees and Master's and PhDs." I told them that my dream was not to end up as a cleaner, working 80-plus hours a week. My dream was to study, but I am stuck in the trap that is poverty. I got active in the union, in the living wage movement, in my refugee background community, and the Labour Party. I got a pay rise and I decided to go to university. 