ANCIENT GREECE

As a young girl, I visited Greece in search of its Ancient past.

To say I was captivated by the culture, landscape and history would be a clear understatement.

To be in the physical presence of what I consider to be the foundation of European Philosophy and Democracy was breathtaking.

It was not just the beauty of the landscape and buildings; not just the architecture, symbolising a representation of "The Divine", but the knowledge that in these places some of the best thinkers had walked, and through dialogue inspired young people to get to know themselves.

All cultures, being created by humans, have this on-going dialogue of "Know Thyself"; some believe that every human has a core of goodness, which can be nurtured and supported to grow and blossom; some believe there is evil in all humans, which has to be restricted and discarded.

Spending time in Greece, reading the letters and words, chiseled in stone, coming down to me from more than 2000 years ago; walking with Socrates while reading his speeches and discussions; looking at the world through his "Reductio ad Absurdum" way of analysis opened a whole new world for me.

A world with a firm belief in the goodness of every human; a firm belief that education and knowledge is the way to understand values and ethics; a firm belief in the value of growing into becoming a better human...

It was during that first travel to Greece I decided to become a teacher.

The love of teaching and seeing others learn, understand, grow and blossom has stayed with me ever since, and still to this day does...

The photographs I took, and had printed for exhibition is just a vague copy of the lasting impression this great culture made on me; Ancient Greece is one huge motivation for me grasping at the opportunity of developing my "Renaissance Personality".

Languages being a crucial part of that, led me to explore the world of Ancient Greek, which exams I passed Summa cum Laude.

The letters in my study-books carried with them the scent of Thyme, the leaves of Olive trees blowing in the wind, the shadow of ancient structures; that whole experience was with me as a faithful companion; it was my motivation to carry on learning; still is...