This story is part of the Area News series celebrating International Day of Rural Women by profiling the lives and contributions made to Griffith by some of its most resilient and inspiring women.
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Dianne Silvester was determined to get herself a good education no matter the potential obstacles she faced coming from a small rural NSW town.
"Growing up in a rural town, not in all families but in most, there was more emphasis on educating the males," Mrs Silvester explained.
"For the girls there was more focus on them to get married and have children so getting an education past school was not a focus."
This is what brought Mrs Silvester from Hay to Griffith in 1999, pursuing formal qualifications in childcare. Traveling across the state or studying via distance education was a common consideration for women in rural towns wanting to gain higher education.
After meeting her husband here, she got a job in long day care working full tume and settled into life in Griffith. However, in August 2007 a road accident forced Mrs Silvester to reconsider her path in life.
Mrs Silvester and her husband suffered severe injuries in a motorbike accident when a driver suddenly pulled out in front of them.
"We nearly lost our lives," Mrs Silvester said.
"It made me stop and think about what was important in life.
"At that point we were both working full time, we both lost our jobs from the accident, we were both paying a mortgage so we nearly lost our house, neither of us could drive because of our injuries."
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Road accidents claim thousands of lives on rural roads each year but the impact it had on Mrs Silvester's life steered her down a different path that opened up an entirely new perspective.
"I never thought I was very community minded but the accident certainly taught me to look after my community," Mrs Silvester.
When the accident forced her out of full time work, a job opportunity came up at Griffith Public School in their multicultural play group "Sprinkles".
The experience of working with families comprising numerous nationalities from throughout the globe has been very rewarding for Mrs Silvester, and is one that has made her appreciate and understand the importance of cultural diversity.
"The accident caused me to be more tolerant in general," Mrs Silvester said.
"All these things in life that I took for granted, that these people don't have.
"The rewards of working with culturally diverse people are many: You get to experience different yummy food. You begin to appreciate the freedoms we have here also.
"Who's to say that our way of doing things is the right way?"
Kat is a former English teacher to international students and has taught all over the world. She is beginning a new career as a journalist with the Area News. Got something you want to chat about? She's all ears.
Kat is a former English teacher to international students and has taught all over the world. She is beginning a new career as a journalist with the Area News. Got something you want to chat about? She's all ears.
