A Long, Long Road to a Lighting Education

摘要

As we reported in the last issue, an ILP bursary recently helped Betty Atine (right) who works for Hyder Consulting, to LET Diploma success. But the story didn't start there - here she recounts her difficult journey and the benefits of her new education My interest in light was influenced by my blind great grand-father. He made me aware about the importance of vision and our other senses. I realised that I was actually privileged to visually experience the outside world. My cultural and geographic background also contributed to my vocation. I come from Martinique, a French overseas department located in the West Indies, close to the Equator, where it gets dark about 6.00pm. I moved to Lyon in 1995 to study electro-technical engineering and I was impressed by the lighting in that city, which extends night-time activities and offers attractive night-time scenery. These events encouraged me to become a lighting designer.