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From Zimbabwe to Australia: This lawyer’s incredible journey to a successful legal career
Here, Peter Muzariri shares the motivational story of his journey to becoming a lawyer, which took him across three continents. His experiences navigating these challenging times serve as a compelling testament to resilience and adaptability.
Grace Robbie
Speaking on a recent episode of The Protégé Podcast, Peter Muzariri, a legal counsel for Melbourne-based law firm Costa Asset Management, shared an inspiring account of his journey to becoming a lawyer. The story he shares highlights his ability to overcome obstacles, embrace new challenges, and ultimately achieve success, serving as a poignant reminder of the remarkable accomplishments that can be achieved through unwavering determination and persistence.
Muzariri’s journey started far away from the bustling legal corridors of Australia, spending his earlier years living in Zimbabwe.
“Being from Zimbabwe, as you’re probably aware, it’s one of those places where it’s had an interesting history in terms of there’s a lot that’s happened politically, economically and everything,” he said.
Growing up in this environment and living in different countries sparked a deep fascination and interest in Muzariri for the legal system and its ability to bring about meaningful change.
“Being born there and then growing up in New Zealand and living in Australia, you just reflect on life and circumstances. That’s when I looked at it, and I saw that in some instances, I thought [that] there’s this thing called the law, and there are probably ways in which it can be used for the better [or] for the worse,” he said.
After completing his studies at university, his entry into the legal profession initially held promise as he secured a graduate position with a law firm in New Zealand.
However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly disrupted his plans, resulting in the cancellation of his job offer and casting a shadow of uncertainty over his immediate career path.
“I had a graduate role with a law firm over in New Zealand that I was due to start when I was concluding my studies in New Zealand. But then COVID happened. So the role, unfortunately, that got cancelled. And so I was sitting there just thinking, what do I do? And what are the next steps here?” he said.
In light of this unforeseen setback, Muzariri made a courageous and bold decision to relocate to Australia due to the scarcity of career prospects available to law graduates in New Zealand.
“But then what happened was because jobs were quite difficult to find for grad roles in New Zealand at the time. I sort of thought, well, I’m here, I’ve graduated, I don’t have a job, [and] I’m struggling to find one in New Zealand.
“I was thinking about going to Australia at some future point in time, so why not just pack up and go and see if I can find a job in Australia and just see what I can do from there?” he said.
Despite having family already living in Australia, Muzariri undertook a significant leap of faith in relocating due to the employment and mental hurdles he had to overcome.
“It was a very scary time. The scary part was literally just thinking, OK, so I have three suitcases, and I’ll move to Australia. I don’t have a job there. I don’t know what I’m going to do. And then I’ll just figure it out from there,” he said.
After overcoming the challenges and intricacies he faced, Muzariri’s persistence and unwavering determination allowed him to land a graduate position, marking the commencement of his legal career.
Looking back on his unique journey, Muzariri articulated the growth and perspective he has gained throughout these experiences.
“It really just taught me that eventually everything’s going to be alright. Also, from a personal and professional perspective [it taught me how] you just have to pay risk sometimes,” he said.
“You just have to back yourself and trust your gut in the decisions you want to make. A big part of it is accepting and knowing that not every single decision we make in life is going to be perfect and correct. Sometimes, we will make decisions where [we] reflect on it and [we] could have made a decision better.
“You sort of need to give yourself a bit more grace for the fact that when you’re in the moment having to make a tough decision, you don’t have the benefit of hindsight and all this other information that you know later.”
