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Greek
Spirit, American Opportunity
Hohlfelder makes the most of her career at Continuing Ed
By Mary
Conrad
Theres
something of an Olympic athlete in Fofi Ralli Hohlfelder. No,
theres no accounting category in the upcoming Athens event,
nor are there training facilities at Continuing Ed. But Fofi approaches
her job and her life in the same way the athletes of her native
Greece did long ago: I try to excel, she says.
To
do my bestnot in competition with others, but for the satisfaction
of knowing Im trying my best.
Fofi came
to the United States in 1964 on a Fulbright scholarship in social
work. Shed been a social worker in the United Nations Office
of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Athens. At the University
of Minnesota she met her husband-to-be, Jacque. The couple moved
to Albuquerque in 1969 after Jacque accepted a position with Sandia
National Labs.
Today shes
a balanced blend of Greek and American, and a firm believer in
the benefits of the cross-cultural life. Of course you pay
a priceleaving behind your homeland and familybut
you gain the enrichment of combining the best of both cultures.
That, Fofi says, would be the humanitarian values she gained from
her classical Greek education and the American freedom for individuals
to pursue their personal and professional goals.
Fofi pursued
a new professional goal after her two children were in high school.
She studied accounting first at TVI, then at UNM, and began work
as an accountant in Continuing Education in 1988. Over the years,
she has worked to upgrade accounting practices and procedures
and to implement computer usage.
Of
course you pay a priceleaving behind your homeland
and familybut you gain the enrichment of combining
the best of both cultures.
Continuing
Education has kept Fofi busy with more than books, however. She
teaches modern Greek and serves as a resource person to other
University departments, the community, and APS regarding Greece
and the Greek language. In the early 90s she initiated a program
titled Greece: Gateway to the Cradle of Western Civilization,
a series of lectures about and visits to archeological sites in
Greece. She made four trips to Greece over the decade, and says
the experience of sharing her native culture with students, staff
and other New Mexicans was life-enriching.
In fact,
the melding of Fofis career and life events into a harmonic
whole has left her with a feeling best expressed in Greek: she
says she is eugnomon that the University has given
her such rewarding opportunities. Thats not just grateful.
Not even Grateful. Perhaps GRATEFUL most closely reaches the heights
of her gratitude.
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