Indonesia
Grady Ryan Mitchell, FCS UB’s well-known native from the United States who is familiar with Indonesian culture, decided to teach as a lecturer in the Study Programme of English Literature (SPEL) and Study Programme of English Language Education (SPELE) in the Faculty of Cultural Studies (FCS) Universitas Brawijaya (UB).
Grady was born on November 9, 1994 in California, United States. He had taken a good level of education, starting from the Seaside Elementary School in Torrence, and after that, he continued to Callemayor Middle School. After graduating from junior high, he studied at Rolling Hills High School in San Pedro. He then studied for his bachelor’s degree at the California State University, namely San Marcos with a major in Linguistic and German Language Studies. Then he continued his studies to Masters of Linguistics at FCS UB.
Previously, Grady had participated in the Darmasiswa RI (DRI) Programme held by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2019 to study Indonesian for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) in Indonesia for a year. Later, he decided to continue his studies at FCS UB through a scholarship. After graduating, he immediately tried to get an Accredited TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certification to get permission to teach legally.
Grady has an ADHD disability. He struggles to focus on one thing and tends to get distracted by other things. His biggest difficulty was in reading. But even so, he still managed to overcome it and master several foreign languages. He can speak English, Indonesian, Spanish, and German.
Grady decided to teach because he have had a passion for teaching since he was still at the undergraduate level. At that time, he often held tutors for his peers. At that time, his interest in the world of teaching arose.
“When I succeed in giving something useful to the people around me, it creates a feeling of pride and satisfaction,” he said.
Grady also enjoys to discussing and analyzing everyday problems, both from the field of study and not. It was also that factor that made him decided to become a teacher.
“Therefore, being a teacher is a very beneficial experience for me,” he added.
Why did he choose to teach in Indonesia and no other countries? There are several factors for him to consider. From the year of his study, in 2019 and above, there was the pandemic that made several countries close their gate at that time. In the meantime, Grady had been studying in Indonesia, so it was impossible to go to other countries.
What interested him to go to Indonesia is because he made several Indonesian best friends, which he got through Penpals website.
“Indonesian people are very friendly and highly value close togetherness compared to other countries,” he said.
These were things that made him decide to teach at FCS UB. Currently, he teaches Speaking class for students of SPEL and SPELE FCS UB. [SPEL/dts/vidya/PR FCS]