Mr. Grady when he graduated from Master’s Programme of Linguistics FCS UB
Mr. Grady is a man from the United States who is familiar with Indonesian culture and has been known in the FIB UB area. He decided to teach as a lecturer in the Study Programme of English Literature and the Study Programme of English Language Education in order to channel his talent as a teacher. Grady, who was born on November 9, 1994, in California, United States, has taken a considerable level of education, starting from elementary school in the city of Torrance, namely Seaside Elementary School. After that, he continued to the next level of education at Callemayor Junior High School. After graduating from junior high school, he continued his education at Rolling Hills High School in San Pedro. He then studied for his undergraduate degree at California State University, San Marcos, with a major in linguistics and German language studies. Then, after graduating with his bachelor’s degree, his supervisor advised him to continue his studies to the next level at the UB Faculty of Cultural Sciences.
He had previously participated in the Jakarta government’s Darmasiswa program in 2019 to study Indonesian in Indonesia for a year. He decided to continue his studies at the Master’s Programme of Linguistics at UB through a scholarship. After graduating, he immediately tried to get a TEFL certification in order to get permission to teach legally. Mr. Grady has an ADHD disability, which means he struggles to focus on one thing and tends to get distracted by other things. For him personally, the biggest difficulty is in reading. But even so, he still managed to overcome it and master several foreign languages. He can speak English, Indonesian, and German.
Some of the things that made Mr. Grady finally choose to teach is that he already has a passion for teaching since he was still in undergraduate college. At that time, he often held tutors for his peers and that was where his interest in the world of teaching arose. He mentioned that when he succeeded in giving something useful to the people around him, it brought out a sense of satisfaction in him. He also enjoys discussing and analyzing daily problems, whether they are related to his field of study or not; this is one of the factors that influenced Mr. Grady’s decision to become a teacher. That way he says that being a teacher is a very useful experience for him.
Why did he choose to teach in Indonesia compared to other countries? There are several things that became factors for Mr. Grady in deciding this. Judging from the year of his study, 2019 and above, at that time there was a pandemic that made several countries close their countries and Mr. Grady had already studied in Indonesia so it was not possible to go to other countries anymore. He also has several Indonesian friends even though he has not been to Indonesia which was obtained through the Penpals website. He also mentioned that the Indonesian people are very friendly and uphold a close togetherness compared to other countries. So that some of these factors made Mr. Grady decide to teach at FCS UB. He currently teaches Speaking classes for the Study Programme of English Literature and the Study Programme of English Language Education at FCS UB. (SPEL)
