The more I think about an answer to the question, the more I'm flooded with memories from my youth. First of all, please let me take you into my background a little so I can explain where my desire of becoming a teacher comes from.
I went to first grade in 1988. I was so nervous during my first week of school as I was not good at reading at all, but Ms. Lili, my home room teacher, helped me patiently to get through those hard days. She opened up the world of reading and writing to me. I loved her - a strict but caring and understanding teacher. At least that is how I remember her from 32 years ago. It is just sad that she passed away about three years ago after a battle with breast cancer. Then there was Ms. Bas, my third grade junior high school English teacher who greatly helped my English skill development. Then there was Ms. Dewi Susilawati, my English and home room teacher from the first to third grade of vocational high school. For me, Ms. Dewi Susilawati was like my own mother. Motherly, caring, patient, understanding and inspiring are five words that would describe those three women best. I mention those three great women because I feel that they contributed, in part, to the life choices I made.
Since I was a little boy, I have always loved helping my classmates with their homework and learning came easy to me for the most part. Being able to help and teach my classmates made me feel good. When I was in the sixth semester of university I was selected to join a program where the upperclassmen could become a teaching assistant for younger students. I enjoyed the program, and it was the starting point for me to decide more seriously where I’d go in life. After finishing my under-graduate program, the university hired me for an English instructor position for two semesters even though I was not from the English department, my major was Communication studies. During that period, teaching English always felt like my destiny. Teaching, especially teaching English was the right thing for me. I love learning, teaching and I love seeing and helping other people learn.
After I was done with the university contract, I was eager to apply my English skills and teaching experiences to English language schools as an English teacher, but unfortunately I came in at the time where schools only accepted those who graduated from the English educational department. It was hard and frustrating for me, but it was not long until I met Joshua Kegg who hired me for an English and Indonesian instructor position at GEC in 2009.
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I'm Adriansyah Putera. I’ve been working for Global English Course (GEC) since 2009. I teach English, and also Indonesian for non-native speakers of Indonesian. I’m also a freelance local guide in my hometown, Bengkulu. I’ve been contributing to Google Maps since September 2015. I love listening to music, hiking, photography and writing.
