By: Luana Yo
Photo Courtesy of Jefferson Sastra
This article features an intern, who journeyed to Indonesia to experience teaching a class, as well as attain a new perspective of a different culture. Some people in this community must have seen her around, recalling her in the parent/staff game at the beginning of soccer season or in the elementary hallway. But for those who don’t know who she is, her name is Brianna Porterfield also known as Miss Bri. Brianna is from Rochester, New York, but she was adopted from Russia at the age of 2. She found her passion for teaching due to her ability to feel comfort when she was in the presence of kids. She exclaimed, “I love seeing the lightbulb go off for kids. I can see when they get something for the first time and they get excited about it and then I get excited about it that they are learning. It is a cool thing to watch.” However, teaching isn’t the only thing she does. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and working out at the gym. She has taken up this new hobby recently, and it allows her to be in her own world.
At first, she traveled from Russia to America, then afterward she went to Kenya, then she went back to America after her internship, and then finally she came to Indonesia. After her internship at BAIS she has returned to America to finish her degree, but it is safe to say, she is quite international. However this is not her first time interning, during her time in Kenya, she had the opportunity to participate in a study abroad program, which led her to discover her love for traveling. A specific moment of her time in Kenya that made her realize that she wanted to be an international educator was when she interned at the orphanage there. Brianna recalls “Since I was adopted, I think that moment made me realize that I want to teach in an orphanage so I can connect to the girls with something in common, which is being adopted and being an orphan."
Photo Courtesy of Brianna Porterfield
This leads to a very important question… Why BAIS? Brianna needed to intern for a certain amount of time for her to graduate, so she started searching for schools. She first looked at a school in Nairobi, Kenya, a familiar place due to her previous trip there. But somehow it didn’t quite work out, she chose to come to BAIS to complete her internship. Director Travis Julian and Pak Hendri helped her get to Indonesia and BAIS smoothly. Her time at BAIS has given her the unique opportunity to teach her own class compared to her past internships which were more towards observing the life of teaching.
Coming to BAIS not only allowed her to experience what it feels like to be an elementary student but also opened her eyes to the new culture in Indonesia. In comparison to America, she shared “ One of my favorite things is being invited to people’s homes for dinner during my first week here because it is different in America since it seems more closed off and private.”
Adding to the thought of a close community, Brianna said, “It’s nice to see how close the teachers are and that people here are so genuine. They ask me how I am and where I am from because they want to and care, not because they have to.”
Photo Courtesy of Jefferson Sastra
In response to a question, ‘ What is after this internship?’, she stated that she doesn’t know what she is doing after this internship, but she plans to continue her education at her university in New York to receive certification. She, however, does wish to come back to BAIS to work, but can’t because of BAIS’s 5-year experience policy.
Not only did she experience the BAIS community, but also the Indonesian community. The Indonesian way of transportation is mostly a motor, so during her time here, she got to experience driving her motor everywhere, and trying some Indonesian food, like Sate. She said that the most memorable thing she had seen through her entire trip here was going into the kampung during Indonesian Independence Day celebrations and games. She loved seeing the kids in the kampung covered in mud and having so much fun playing the traditional games. As someone who loves the outdoors, she said in admiration, “I love that there isn’t a separation between the indoor and the outdoor life like a lot of the day happens outside.”
To sum up this article about Brianna in the 3 months she spent here, she believes that a good teacher admits their mistakes to their students as it shows the kids that teachers aren’t perfect and that they are normal people. By showing kids that teachers aren’t perfect, students respect teachers more and form a mutual relationship where a teacher and a student can help each other learn.