Susan Joyce

by Dr. Iain Corness

One of the Faculty of Liberal Arts lecturers at Asian University is a most interesting English lady, Susan Joyce. She was a rather unique young girl when she first entered Leeds University to study Civil Engineering some years ago. She was the only female in a class intake of 120, and upon graduation was only the 11th female member of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
Not only is Susan an interesting person, she also has a very interesting background, with both her grandfather and uncle being engineers, and although both her parents were dentists, her mother was the first female dentist in the Army Dental Corps.
Despite having been born in London within earshot of Bow bells, making her a Cockney, she is very polished, perhaps showing the results of British private school education. It was also at school that she began to show her very different direction. Home economics were not for young Susan. Her favorite subjects were Pure Maths, Applied Maths and Physics. When I asked her what was the attraction to these subjects, she said, “I enjoyed maths. I found it interesting. I enjoyed proving things.”
Initially she thought that she might like to study computers and went to Leeds University on one of their open days to see what this would entail. “I took one look at the computers and decided it would be boring, but the Civil Engineering lab interested me.” The other draw-card for Civil Engineering was that it was a career which would allow her to use mathematics.
During her university years she found that she was drawn to water, so when she graduated she ended up taking a position relating to the civil engineering of - sewage! It would be difficult to imagine anything less lady-like for a young woman! However Susan said that she was not really standing knee deep in wellies, but involved mainly on design. She even quoted the (previous) definition of Civil Engineering, being that of “Harnessing the force of nature for the benefit of mankind.” Anyone who has had to experience life without a sewage system would definitely agree with that definition! Mankind has certainly benefited.
Her civil engineering expertise grew and soon she was involved in projects both in the UK and in the Middle East. This ignited a love of travel and experiencing different lifestyles, and she began to plan an overseas career for herself. However, this plan had to go on hold initially – she met the man who was to become her husband. Another engineer, just to keep it all in the family.
As a couple, they rethought their individual overseas plans and together they went to Africa, where her husband had a contract in Kenya, and Susan also snared a job, as soon as she had got there. This time it was in water treatment, another necessary ingredient benefiting mankind, especially in hot, dry Africa.
However, after eight years there, they decided it was time to leave. There were many factors influencing their decision. “We didn’t want to get stuck in Africa all of our lives, and violence and AIDS were on the rise.”
They returned to the UK, and Susan returned to consulting, but after a few years, her career took a different turning. She saw an advertisement for professional training for engineers and joined the group that was running these training sessions. Her job was in organizing the training and finding the necessary resource personnel. It was an interesting deviation and Susan stayed there for another six years.
But on the home front, both she and her husband began to get itchy feet again, and her husband was offered a position in America, and Susan joined him there in Oklahoma. For the first time, Susan had problems finding a position for herself. However, being active and resourceful, she got around the ‘green card’ problem by becoming a volunteer tutor at a technical college there. She also found that she enjoyed teaching, saying, “It’s that moment when the little light comes on (for the student) that makes it all worthwhile.” Being well experienced in life also helped her make the transition. “You have to experience the ‘real’ world before you go teaching,” said Susan, and there would be many people who would agree with that.
After the US, they moved to France, but that was not satisfactory, for many reasons, including the fact that schoolgirl French was not enough in the professional arena. But on Friday the 13th (Black Friday for the superstitious souls) 1998, her life again changed. There was the possibility of something in Thailand. Did she want to go? Or rather, “they” did!
After three years in Bangkok, they moved to Pattaya. Asian University was looking for teachers, and a Mathematics teacher in particular. Would Susan be interested? Since Mathematics was still her favorite subject she took the opportunity gladly. Now five years on and she is still enjoying the challenge.
Being someone who has not had children herself (by design), I wondered how she felt about this relatively new career in teaching children. “Here (at Asian U) we have young adults. They’re not sticky and they’re potty trained! They are very nice people and that is one of the things that makes the job worthwhile.”
As her first hobby, Susan surprised me by saying dressmaking. Venturing that this seemed a long way from applied maths and engineering, Susan disagreed. “It’s very similar to engineering. You have a pattern, design and construction.” And then smiled sweetly and said, “There’s some great fabrics here too at the Naklua markets!” One of her other hobbies also uses mathematics – that fiendish oriental puzzle called Sudoku. “It’s a terrible time-waster, but I enjoy the challenge.”
Despite having been a trailblazer in many ways, Susan is not a women’s libber. “I’m in favor of equal treatments and equal rights, but I still appreciate doors being opened!” When we finished the interview, I made sure this charming lady preceded me as we left!