Azadeh Madanian Mohammadi

I joined the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) in May 2015, and work as a Visa and Immigration Adviser.

I advise the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) international students on visa and immigration-related issues as well as ensuring that our department is compliant with immigration rules.

I manage a team of five and I am the team leader for the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) team in ELTC consisting of five wonderful members of staff. I am very lucky to work with great people and absolutely love my job.

I finished studying at high school in Iran while looking after my two children. We joined my husband in the UK in November 1997, where he started his PhD at the University of Sheffield.

As my English became stronger, I started studying part-time for an undergraduate degree in IT and Organisation at the Department of Lifelong Learning at the University of Sheffield and graduated in June 2007.

While I was studying, I also assisted with the University’s Orientation each September and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so that I started working part-time in Student Support and Guidance as an International Student Assistant in September 2005.

My role involved dealing with international student visas. I became a full-time member of staff in 2008 in the same role and office and never looked back.

In 2014, alongside full-time work, I started studying part-time and in July 2015, I obtained a PG Certificate in International Student Advice and Support (ISAS) at the University of Nottingham.

I am proud of myself for being able to work my way up while looking after my family in a country where I had no other relatives. I feel my biggest achievement is bringing up my children and helping to bring up my granddaughter, to be happy, and they have gone on to be successful too.

They are very proud of their heritage and are well integrated into British society. They have both gone on to find love and now my family has grown to be multicultural, which makes me very proud.

I love my job and want to continue to do the work I do now with international students and contribute to a positive experience for the international students that decide on Sheffield as their place of study.