In profile: Emily Ridge

Can you tell us about your role and current projects?

I teach English, Literature, History and RAVE in the Secondary School. I’m also a Year 9 mentor to a fabulous group of students.

What do you like best about your current role?

Even though teaching so many subjects sometimes feels like doing the splits in five directions at once, I do enjoy the variety! I especially enjoy it when there are natural connections between my subjects and when I can make those links clear for my students. A highlight of the week is Friday trivia with my mentor group.

What did you do before joining the Radford community?

When I left college I was pretty burnt out from the demands of Year 12 so took a year off to travel around Europe and the UK. This trip changed my perspective about what I wanted to study at university and helped me realise it was more important to follow my passions than to follow the path I felt others expected me to go down.

I studied English, History and Drama at ANU and was able to travel again as part of my degree. I visited Germany for a political history conference and also spent six months living and studying at Trinity College Dublin. Back at ANU, I completed an honours thesis researching the Anzac Legend and the changing place of women within that story, before beginning my Masters of Teaching at ACU.

What do you enjoy outside Radford?

Outside of Radford I enjoy watching and sometimes even taking part in local theatre productions. Last year I was involved in a Margaret Atwood production, which was very rewarding. I’m looking forward to working on the Senior Drama production again in second semester.

During the colder months I enjoy knitting and am working on some beanies to keep me warm during the cold morning walks to school. In the warmer months I enjoy gardening and growing vegetables with occasional success and relaxing with a book by the pool.