When I returned to the Netherlands in the summer of 1980, it marked the end of a particularly fine journey of a year through Europe and North Africa.

The years before I made this trip, I completed my studies in 1976 at the Teacher training institute, Moller institute, where I studied Dutch Language and History. After that I started my doctoral study "Old Dutch Literature"  at Radboud university, Nijmegen (1976-1979). My subsidiary subjects were "Art History of the Middle Ages" and "Philosophy of the Middle Ages".

During this doctoral study I came into contact with the topic "The discovery of the individual in the 12^th century". The figure Lancelot gradually changes in the last book of the codex "Queeste de mort d' Arthur" from a reactive knight to an individual who thinks about  himself and his behavior. I was fascinated by the impact that self-reflection has on an individual, his personal development and his behavior. This fascination eventually led to my PhD research.

In January 1981 began my professional life as a teacher. The first years I was a teacher of Dutch language in the upper classes of secondary school. From 1990 to 2019 I was a lecturer in Communication and of Communicative and Social Skills at Higher Technological education, Fontys  Hogescholen in Eindhoven. In October 2019 I retired in education.

In 1995 I became a lecturer at the study Mechanical Engineering. One of my tasks was to develop and take care of a new module, in which the development of Social and Communicative Skills ( SCS, SCV (Dutch) related to the development of personal qualities, would be the main theme. Because it was a new module, every SCV teacher could follow his own path. I chose for an emphasis on intra-personal development, for finding the way to self-knowledge. Gaining experience with your personal qualities and being open to your personal development was essential in the module.

Around 2006 I began to feel the need for an in-depth research: "knowing how" to stimulate the personal development of students in a technical study. This led to my (external) PhD research at the Graduate  School  for  Humanities, Tilburg University: "Stimulating Conscious Development. Mechanism for movement in Engineering education" which I completed on April 12^th 2017. (BOS model, SCD model (English).

Ten young technical students decided to participate enthusiastically in the research on a voluntary basis and outside of teaching hours.

Education has always attracted me. Technology plays an important role in our world. Conscious personal development may lead to conscious choices. Not only on a personal level, but also in the professional field.

 Dr. Rosalie van Baest