What does `とし` mean in the following sentence?

> 若者はオーストラリア人のようになろう **とし** 、オーストラリアで育ったので、両親の伝統を無視したりします
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2013-06-30T06:17:04.803
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2013-06-30T06:58:08.967
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grammar
What does とし mean in this sentence?
なろうとする means "try to become", なろうとし is the 連用形. So basically "trying to become
like Australians, ..." or "try to become like Australians, and ..."
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