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bio

An Australian of Indian heritage, Shashikala (Shashi) recently completed a Masters of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University. Established at a young age, her passion for language learning and intercultural understanding developed while a host sister to over seventeen Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, Filipino and Malaysian students. Shashi studied French and Japanese at school and continued to foster extensive engagement with both languages and cultures at university and in a professional context. In 2010, she took part in the Ishikawa Foundation for International Exchange program. During her undergraduate studies, she was a Language and Cultural Exchange Mentor at the University of Adelaide, assisting a Chinese international student during her transition to life in Australia. Shashi has also worked at a snow sports company and a kids club in Japan and has extensive experience working with children. She is currently undertaking research on indigenous policy and food security with the Red Cross. Shashi is keen to share the value of cross-cultural opportunities within Australia and encouraging others to see language as catalyst for broadening life perspective.