“Never before had I thought that the height of my heels might change my image in the eyes of others. I had long ago embraced my diminutive stature. I had decided that it was my small size I had to thank for the gift of a bubbly, “big on the inside” personality. But, I have been converted. I have seen the power of the black heel and I don’t know if I’ll ever willingly return. At least not while I’m in Ukraine.

Initially, I was uncertain about the cause of this friendly phenomenon. I thought it my long absence over the Winter holidays that had endeared me to the teachers and students at my school. Then, I figured it out – it was just my shoes…When I wore these heels, standing in front of a roomful of rowdy 2nd formers, an eerie reverential silence came over them. As I walked around the room, checking their homework and chiding the paper-throwers, their eyes followed me. Their eardrums alert and mesmerized by the clicking of my heels. I swear, they even raised their hands higher.”