A 2nd-year Bachelor of Learning Management student from CQU Emerald has undertaken Portal Task Experience 2 at Bedouire State School, located in the State's far west.

If you had told Chris Daly he should be a teacher when he was younger he would have laughed at you.

Chris is still laughing, but this time it is because he will be giving other students the opportunity to learn. As soon as he turned 15, Chris left school and worked on the family farm in Dalby.

The second-year BLM student obviously has a real zest for teaching judging by his performance earlier this year while on prac. Chris chose to do his prac at isolated Bedourie - a small stop-off halfway between Birdsville and Boulia.

With a population of 120 and a school enrolment of just 14, Chris embarked on a journey that, as he describes, "was going to break me or make me".

Having just one building at the school, Chris soon embarked on assistance from the local council and community to help him implement his unit of work.

"To coincide with World Environment Day, I decided to focus on promoting a sustainable environment because food is trucked in each fortnight and we were looking at an alternative way of living," said Chris, as he recalls his first meeting with Diamantina Shire CEO John Perry.

When it was clear that Chris' intentions were focused on the students' learning, people seemed to bend over backwards to help him.

When he asked for a guest speaker, the Council arranged for an environmental officer to come and speak to the students.

Chris recalls: "This was a real turning point in our unit because I asked Cathy if she would take us on a tour of the town after speaking to the students because I wanted to approach this experience from all angles".

So, while most other students were busy at their desks, Chris had the students from Bedourie performing experiments with the principal's hose, planting trees in Anzac Park, examining the Bore pump and conducting investigations into why certain vegetables can grow in Bedourie, while others can't.

Getting out of the classroom and experiencing real-life situations is Chris' philosophy.

The only problem leaving the classroom in Bedourie is the wild goats.

"We were chased by three of them and had to hurry back to the school yard to avoid confrontation," says the wiry 41-year-old.

But Chris believes it was well worth it. "For me, it was an incredible learning journey because I knew no-one and I wanted to see if I really had it in me to see if I would make the grade as a teacher," he recalls.

One of the highlights of the prac was the trip to Windorah for the weekly sports carnival for which the students from Bedourie had to travel across the desert in a small bus.

It is a five-hour trip because of the wind factor crossing the desert.

A total of four stops were made including an hour stay at Monkira Station to listen and watch the students who study via distance education.

"As we crossed the channel country the kids and I sang and were amazed at the wildlife, which included camels, pigs, king brown snakes and more of those damn goats," Chris says with a wry grin.

During the carnival, a plane-load of KFC was delivered - $1000 worth to be exact.

Chris said he expanded his network of teachers and fellow educators far beyond his expectations during his week in Windorah.

However, the most satisfying part of his prac was to see the rapid improvement of a year-five student.

As Chris recalls: "This boy had a very low level of thinking, reading and writing. To help him, we used to have our English classes outside because he could not express himself clearly.

"Outside he was able to touch plants, smell the different leaves, feel the different soils and listen to the noises the wind use to make. By the end of the week, at presentation time, this boy amazed the school by standing in front of them and gave a detailed report of his environment.

"It was then I knew the job I came to do was complete," grins a proud uni student.

Chris feels the greatest satisfaction he can achieve is to see that someone has learnt something new. "I am going to make a difference".

Chris believes people should be encouraged to step outside their comfort zone and take responsible risks.

Judging from his enthusiasm and dedication, it appears nothing is going to stand in the way of Chris being great at whatever he does.