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An Equity-First Students as Partners Podcast.
Student Stories in Higher Education.
00:00:01 PIERS
You're listening to Voices from the Classroom, the podcast that bridges the gap between
students and educators. I'm Piers.
00:00:07 POPPY
And I'm Poppy.
00:00:07 PIERS
And we're your hosts today. Thanks for being here.
Today we're joined by Aryan Bajaj, a Master of Film and Television student who's
passionate about highlighting the experiences of international students here at Deakin.
He's here to tell us about the importance of accessible resources, the unique challenges
of navigating the film industry as an international student, and why lecturers support in
finding pathways and matching industry standards is essential for success.
00:00:28 POPPY
So Aryan. What do you wish your lecturers knew?
00:00:32 PIERS
Welcome back to another episode of Voices from the Classroom. Our mission is to amplify
the lived experience of students, especially those from equity cohorts who often face
challenges and offer valuable insights into university life. We aim to spark conversations
between students and educators to deepen the understanding of diverse realities, shaping
student engagement, motivation and success.
Please note that while this is a Student as Partners project supported by the Equity-First
team, that we've shared our own and based on personal experiences and stories from
fellow students, not on behalf of any institution or group.
00:00:59 POPPY
Today we are joined by the wonderful Aryan. Aryan, can you start by telling us a bit about
yourself and what you're studying?
00:01:06 ARYAN
Yeah, my full name is Aryan Bajaj. I'm from India. I'm doing a Masters of Film and Television
at Deakin University. And it's been good, I feel. It's been great. The professors are really
nice, and my classmates are really helpful. On the basis of creativity, I think I can be free, I
can speak my own mind with them. And yeah, it's been a great experience.
00:01:29 POPPY
That's wonderful. What has your experience at Deakin as an international student been
like?
00:01:36 ARYAN
My journey as an international student started with a lot of questions. When I first came
here, I was very new to the scenario. I've always wanted to go out and study, go out as an
abroad. And then it was very fulfilling and very like over the top for me when I first came
here and saw 2000 international students like me who are there who are on their own
journey and, but it's been good. I mean other students I've met are really helpful and there
is no taboo of like discrimination or any other thing that is going to happen in regards to
being an international student. But the journey has been great. I mean, Deakin has been
very kind and the people have been very kind. I think Deakin accepted me throughout and
yeah, they've been really, really very helpful.
00:02:26 POPPY
That's wonderful to hear.
00:02:27 PIERS
Very positive experience so far.
00:02:29 POPPY
Yeah. What resources within Deakin have you found most useful and what's missing within
that as well?
00:02:36 ARYAN
So I come from the arts background. Deakin has provided me with everything that I can
hope for, from the studios to the equipment to the right professors to the right, I think, the
right education course that they provided me with, and I'm pretty grateful for that. And I
think there's some things which I really keep a note on as I'm in the second year. I got to
find some loopholes, I feel. The professors are really nice they give the right information
needed, but then it is me, it is the student who has to push a little more to actually get into
what is gonna be useful for me. For example, there's a film festival happened in Melbourne,
which is called Indian Film Festival, and some of the great directors from India came to
Deakin to showcase their film and to promote their film, basically. And but that I reached to
the festival on my own. I mean, as a film student, which is studying in Deakin and the film
festival is related to Deakin because Deakin is the sponsor for them. So I thought that
should have been come from the Deakin side of it. But yeah, that's the little things that I
kept a note of. But otherwise, otherwise, yeah, it's been good.
00:03:56 PIERS
So what challenges have you faced trying to find pathways into the film and television
industry?
00:04:03 ARYAN
Starting with the DeakinTALENT Portal, which has been really very, very helpful. I mean, the
jobs related to the arts department, related to my particular field are on there, but then
they're very, very limited, I feel. And going through the application process was also new for
me because when you apply it online, you have to go through the interview online. That is
kind of new. And I'm very scary about interviewing online because I feel in person it's very
different. You can feel the vibe, you can feel what's going on with the other person, the
interviewee. And that is one challenge where I feel that I might, cannot come across a
better individual as related to my craft when I'm interviewing online. That was one
challenge. Then the second was actually finding some pathways which I really wanted to
be in. For example, I am really fond of being a casting director and then getting talent
recruitment. So there is no buzz about that from Deakin in my course per se, so I'm finding
that all by myself. And, but the other things, my journey as a freelance cinematographer,
freelance videographer, and getting some direction gigs and stuff like that, with that has
been really helpful. I'm getting through that from the DeakinTALENT Portal. But then it's
always the extra mile that I have to go through to actually come across that way. I mean,
every student has to go through that extra mile, but then it's a little difficult for me when I
don't know the industry over here. So that's the big challenge.
00:05:45 PIERS
There's so many things you could do on a film set. How do you find the right thing for you?
00:05:49 ARYAN
To finding the right thing is firstly, I try to try everything. I got my hands into cinematography,
I got my hands into direction, but then doing the camera is, I think, not for me. I think I can
tell the story better in a direction kind of a way. So I went through that. I did gaffer, I did
pretty much everything that I can do. I was very weak in writing script, so I went into writing.
I went to writing camps and stuff like that. But then casting, I really sort of felt that, okay,
this is kind of like my calling because I've been to some auditions. I've talked to directors,
like, how do you take auditions? How does the auditions happen? What's the process?
How do you select the person with the right role? Then they told me about it. And then I
thought, okay, this is kind of interesting. This is, I think, I believe I can do this. So that's why
I got into this field. And I'm just aiming for the casting director role. Let's see.
00:06:44 POPPY
And is Deakin your first experience with a tertiary education? Like is this the first university
you've been to?
00:06:52 ARYAN
Yeah, I've always wanted to go out, go out as an abroad and study and see how the
experience is.
00:06:58 POPPY
Yeah.
00:06:58 ARYAN
So yeah, Deakin is the first university I've been to.
00:07:01 POPPY
Yeah.
00:07:02 ARYAN
And yeah, hopefully the last also. Yeah. I plan to work on, but yeah.
00:07:06 POPPY
That's wonderful. How do you think Deakin lecturers could better support international
students in the process?
00:07:15 ARYAN
The one thing I felt is that I don't know the industry overhead. And there are a lot of other
international people who are starting from the basics who are like coming from a
background of science into art. So that's also a difficult and a different journey. But then
me having a little bit of background of journalism and mass comm and film, it was kind of
okay to me to get into and indulge in the industry here, but then I'm still very new. I'm
finding things on my own, so I'm also getting on the wrong path. I went into some gigs and
then I was not paid. I don't know why, because there was no discrimination as such, but
then I was not paid. So that is also one thing to not go to the different parts which are not
very useful for you. That is also wasting your time and wasting your talent over there. For
me, the most important thing is to being at the right place at the right time. And that can
happen, I think, through my professors and being more vocal and being more open. And
that's the main challenge.
The only thing I've been doing is I have been as an individual reaching out to different
professors as to, okay, this is my doubt. This is I want to be in. Can you help me with this
Because they have 20 plus years of experience and I think they're going to be very, very
helpful.
00:08:29 POPPY
Yeah.
00:08:30 ARYAN
But yeah, that's one big main challenge.
00:08:32 POPPY
That's great to be reaching out to them. I mean, that's what we should be doing.
00:08:35 PIERS
Yeah, having a good relationship with like, lecturers. It's so important, especially in film,
because on any degree, but they have so much experience, they know the field more than
anyone. They know people, they can help in every sense.
00:08:47 ARYAN
Exactly, yeah.
00:08:49 POPPY
How important is guidance in matching your skills and work to industry standards?
00:08:56 ARYAN
I think guidance is very, very important, starting with the basics and going towards your
niche and being an expert in that is very, very important. Being a director calls for all the
basics you should learn ever from aspect. I'm going to be very critical about this, but then
learning everything from aspect ratio to what goes into the camera to what lenses do you
want to use.
00:09:17 ARYAN
It's all the basic knowledge you can have. And guidance is the one main key that you can, I
think, depend on as going forward. And you can, you should aim to get guidance from
anywhere, from whoever possible. It can be your professors, it can be a student from
design, it can be a student from this law that what guidance they can give me as to get into
the media law business. So I have many factors to depend on. So guidance, I think, is one
of the main key factors to really hope for. And I think as a person, I think you should only
thrive for it. You should not depend on any of the person giving you guidance on their own.
You should keep asking questions. You should keep beeping them. You should keep
poking them as to, you know, I have problem with this. I need to know about this. So please
help me.
00:10:08 PIERS
100%.
00:10:08 ARYAN
That is the one main key to be vocal, I feel.
00:10:10 ARYAN
Yeah.
00:10:11 PIERS
Are there any like specific things that you wish lecturers could help out, like maybe
instructions for them, what they could do?
00:10:17 ARYAN
There were a couple of things where I thought of that, okay, that this, if this was coming
from the professor, it would be a little easy on me and a little more clarity towards me as to
I can then I can work on it then as to on my basis. The first thing was these things like more
reaching out, reaching out to more festivals, being involved in more film festivals, being
involved in the, for example, being involved in the Saint Kilda Film Festival, which is like
very big here. And for being an international student and for being a newcomer in the
industry, film festivals and then networking events are really, really important for me. And
as a student, I may miss two or three networking events, but I think it is important to be
there at first. So if this was coming out from the professors that, okay, this event is going to
happen this time and I think you should go, it would give me more confidence and more
clarity as to, okay, that this is going to happen. I will go and talk to these kind of people. I
will go and talk to about this, about what I do. So that is one thing.
Second thing would be a little more push towards work, I feel. I mean, the Deakin film
course does provide us with a lot of things. We are shooting a film next year, giving us the
whole equipment, but then the study about it as, for example, we did a writing semester,
last year in the second trimester. And all we did was writing. And I think that was very
helpful. But writing about what my niche is different about writing, my genre is different
about writing, and other for the same person. A little more clarity towards my genres and
watching the right films of the same genre that I can write on. That is a little thing where I
felt that, okay, this might be missing. That would have given an extra clarity, an extra push
towards for me as an individual to write. And same for the other person, they will also have
more clarity. If this makes sense.
00:12:21 POPPY
Yeah, that's wonderful. What do you, what's the one thing that you wish non-international
lecturers knew about supporting international students?
00:12:33 ARYAN
So far, I think my experience with non-international faculty has been great. I feel, I have
been really nosy for them. I feel I have been asking a lot of questions, a lot of emails which
consist of what is going to happen next, what should I do, where should this be? And they
have been very helpful. But then I think as an international student, the background is
different. Of course, I cannot blame anybody as to they would understand and hope for me
the best all the time. But then they have been helpful. And there was one thing where I felt
that they should have known is that I'll take my example. I have some experience of the
industry back home and some experience of the industry here. And just getting that right
balance should have been the key, where I think that they should have also have caught
on.
00:13:26 POPPY
Yeah.
00:13:26 ARYAN
If this is making sense. But yeah, I think, and for clarity, I think I should have been the one
who should be reaching to them and that I have been doing that. But then the result is very,
very slow, I feel. And it's going to happen until they get a clear clarity of who I am.
00:13:42 POPPY
Yeah.
00:13:43 ARYAN
So they can also give me the right opportunities for me. That is one thing, but it takes time, I
feel. Yeah. If this makes sense.
00:13:50 POPPY
This is a little off topic, but I'm curious as what your degree was prior to beginning your
master's.
00:13:56 ARYAN
Yeah, I did journalism and mass communication.
00:13:58 POPPY
Yeah.
00:13:58 ARYAN
So, and while doing journalism, I thought that I wanted to be a TV reporter, TV news anchor,
but then it didn't really turn out. I did a lot of internships as a TV journalism reporter and
stuff, but then I was really keen into filmmaking and started doing some odd jobs here and
there, started doing some YouTube channels, some freelance cinematography for them.
00:14:23 POPPY
Yeah.
00:14:23 ARYAN
And yeah, and that's how I think I built my little experience.
00:14:26 POPPY
Yeah.
00:14:27 ARYAN
And then I moved on to here.
00:14:29 PIERS
I've been on like a similar path because I'm studying journalism. I also do a lot of like
YouTube, that kind of stuff. So it's a great way to build up like skills and kind of like
understand basics before fully lunging into something bigger.
00:14:40 POPPY
Yeah. So Aryan, what do you wish your lecturers knew?
00:14:46 ARYAN
I wish my, I wish my lecturers knew about basically how to craft one's journey as a student.
When somebody's beginning as a newcomer and crafting would happen as to knowing the
students individually, I feel, and there are a lot of there are not many students in my class, I
feel they're about thirty-thirty max per se. But then being like 30 people, we can focus on 30
people individually, I feel. There's always things that work on two sides. I mean, a student
has to also be on the same page as the professor. He's also or she has to also be willing to
learn as much as the professor can provide. So it goes both ways. But then I feel my
teachers could have known more about how to craft me as an artist, as a filmmaker,
maybe. But then, speaking for me, that I have been reaching out to professors as to what
can I do, what can I be, and then how can they help. But then it's always me firstly reaching
out. I feel it should have come that way too.Otherwise, that, okay, this is happening. I think
people should go, I think you should go, Oh, there's this film festival happening that you
should go. Then that is a little tricky for me because if I miss that, I miss that. And if I, if it
would have worked for me, I would regret it later. That is one thing I wish my teachers knew
how to craft us as an artist, as an individual, as a filmmaker.
00:16:23 PIERS
Because that's what it's all about. It's all about making art at the end of the day. Yeah, kind
of create your own unique vision of something. Yeah.
Well, thank you, Aryan, so much for sharing your perspective and coming on.
Your story really highlights the importance of providing international students with more
tailored resources and clearer pathways into the film industry, as well as stronger lecturer
guidance to help them meet industry standards. Thank you so much for coming on the
show.
00:16:44 ARYAN
Thank you so much for having me.
00:16:46 POPPY
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Voices from the Classroom. We hope
Aryan's story provided some valuable insights that could potentially be considered as part
of your education provision. If you found today's discussion engaging, don't forget to
subscribe so you won't miss our next episode. We also welcome any suggestions of topics
you'd like us to delve into or experiences to be shared. Please share them through the link
in the podcast notes.
Until next time, keep listening, keep learning and keep connecting. They're not just our
stories, they're calls for empathy, understanding and change.