There are two defining experiences in my life that instilled the desire to become a teacher and contribute to society in a way that I find meaningful.  The first of these experiences occurred in my mid twenties after my mother began a relationship with a man from Papua New Guinea (PNG), as a result of this I have gained a new family.  Visiting my step-father’s village in the Eastern Highlands of PNG was an overwhelming and eye-opening experience.  Overwhelming culturally, particularly when meeting my step great grandmother, who met me on my first visit with tears running down her cheeks.  Eye opening in watching a culture on verge of massive change, Western influence has arrived in the form of soft drinks, and videos but there is a lack of state sponsored education.  Many children, particuraly the girls, are withdrawn from school when their families cannot afford to send them to school.  My visits to PNG have contributed to my wanting to become a teacher as I feel a responsibility to the younger generation of women in the village whose families cannot afford to educate them.

The second occurred when travelling through Morocco two years I ended up doing volunteer work with a Moroccan Charity (Association Solidarite Midelt) for several months.  As my background in Website Design, my main tasks as a volunteer where to build a website for the association that their donators could access overseas and to teach young women how to use desktop software, such as Microsoft Word. This was an amazing experience that made recognise the need to educate people (and specifically women) developing countries in the use of technology.