I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1950. It was a good, optimistic time to enter the world. The Second World War had ended, and it was exciting being a teenager during the Sixties and the Flower Power period.

After leaving high school I worked in an insurance company for a year. The days were very long, so I left to go to college and train as a primary (elementary school) teacher. I worked with children from age 3 – 12 for 42 years, before retiring 6 months ago. The focus of my work was not on any particular subject, but on how children learn, and what are the barriers to their learning. In that time, I became a headteacher (principal), and was invited to help inspect the teaching and educational standards in other schools. A career highlight was being presented to Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of my work in education.

During this time I got married, and we now have three grown up children and five grandchildren. I am really enjoying the time I have now to spend with our family, and have got involved in some charity work for women in Africa who have suffered obstetric fistulas. I am also exploring new interests and love the fact that I get to choose how I spend each day. So far I have done two courses on Forensic Science and one on how our brains work. I am so far out of my comfort zone! I am finding the Social Psychology course from Coursera interesting and challenging, and while I can't make use of it for career purposes, I hope the studies will help me be mindful in my interactions with others, and also better at understanding why people generally act the way they do.

‘Go out on a limb, that’s where the fruit is.’ Mark Twain