Growing up in the Greek community in Tarpon Springs, I became fascinated with my own past.  As I explored my culture as a student at St. Petersburg Junior College, I became excited about not only my cultural history but just culture in general.  Studying art, philosophy, literature, history, and religion led me to Florida State University to pursue degrees in the Classical Civilizations, and eventually a Master's in Humanities (with a focus in Classical Civilizations).  My growing passion for these subjects led me to travel in Italy, Greece, Scotland, and France to see the inspirations of great people past and to even work on archaeological digs.  I have also been leading Study Abroad trips at SPC to Greece in cooperation with the City of Tarpon Springs' Sister City Program and taking students to Greece to see the highlights of Greece and the smaller sites of our Sister City Agreements.  The picture on this page is from the trip we took in May of 2024 where I was lecturing on the Acropolis in Athens, and the Parthenon in the background.  This was definitely a highlight of my career and I am grateful to the students who came on this trip and seeing them experience the culture first hand.

I have been teaching ever since graduate school, starting in the year 2000 and while the technology has certainly changed, students really have not.  Most students, when they allow themselves to learn the content in the Humanities courses find something out about themselves.  I know many will not be Humanities majors, but everyone gets something out of these courses and I hear many times from former students that this was their favorite course in college.  It is because learning about the Humanities helps everyone understand themselves and their own personal taste, which is incredibly difficult to measure.  The main measurement I have found is how many students use the money from their jobs to chase the passions of what they found in a course like Humanities.  This is usually with trips all over the world, art museum visits, books they read in their free time, and even how to decorate their own homes.  My advice to everyone is to allow yourself to find out what passions you have for the arts, and follow those passions in some way to a deeply rewarding life.