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From one generation to the next, philanthropy opens the door to opportunity

An ACU scholarship changed the life of teaching graduate Ary Wahyudi. Now, as a high school teacher in a rural Queensland community, he’s giving back to the next generation.

For teacher Ary Wayhudi, the town of Blackwater in Queensland couldn’t be more different to his hometown of Sibang Kaja in Bali, Indonesia. A 9-hour drive from Brisbane, Blackwater is a coal mining town a few hours inland from the coast. It’s here that Ary is shaping the lives and minds of the almost-400 students at Blackwater State Highschool.

Ary’s life in Blackwater is the realisation of a long-held dream that transported him from Bali to Brisbane. In Bali, he worked in a tourism sector that was decimated by COVID-19. Teaching offered a new professional pathway, and Australia held the potential of a fresh start that could benefit not just Ary but his whole family.

But, like many international students, he needed a helping hand to kickstart his Australian journey. An ACU scholarship opened the door to opportunity.

“My agent told me that ACU offers the International Student Scholarship, which covers 50% of recipients’ tuition fees. That was a lot for me, coming from Indonesia where the currency is the rupiah,” Ary says.

“If it wasn’t for the scholarship, I don’t think I’d be here now. The scholarship allowed me to have all of this opportunity, to have all of the things I have now. It was the entrance gate for me.”

At ACU, Ary leveraged the Bachelor of English Studies he’d completed in Bali, leapfrogging into the Master of Teaching where he built the skills to pursue an Australian teaching career. As part of one of the three professional placements that are the hallmark of the master’s degree, he received a Beyond the Range Professional Experience Grant to complete a placement at a rural school. That school was Blackwater State Highschool.

By the end of Ary’s placement, the school had offered him a job; he’s now in his third year as a fully-fledged teacher in Blackwater, making enough to support himself and to regularly send money home for his family. It’s this potential for intergenerational uplift that he sees as one of the most important outcomes of philanthropic and university-funded initiatives like ACU scholarships. 

“I really wanted a change in my life, something that was actually real, something that could deliver bigger impact to everyone around me,” he says.

But the flow-on effects of that philanthropy don’t just stop with Ary and his family. In Blackwater, according to 2021 Census data, only 8.3% of the population has a university degree. Ary, who comes from a family that places a strong emphasis on educational attainment, offers an alternative narrative to students who might not see post-high-school education as part of their future. 

“It’s not the kind of work where you can see immediate change. You do small things and slowly shift students’ way of life, but it can take time for that change to emerge,” says Ary, who takes pride in quietly inspiring students to see education as an investment in their futures.

“It’s challenging, but it’s rewarding.”