Cheryl Reid
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education (Secondary)
In 1998, at the age of 44, I started a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education double degree at QUT. Eight years later I’m a teacher trainer with an Australian government aid program in Indonesia. The Islamic education institution (Pesantren) I work in is on the north coast of East Java. It has hundreds of teachers and thousands of students, many of them boarders, from primary school to university.
Speaking Indonesian has opened the door to another culture - actually many cultures, and one of the world’s major religions. Every day the language reveals something new and interesting about these friendly neighbours of ours that I couldn’t discover in any other way. It’s the difference between experiencing something first-hand or depending on others’ interpretations. I know which I prefer.
How did I get here? By studying Indonesian language, history, politics, geography, cultures and religions at QUT. The education degree helped a lot too.