For a petite, seemingly shy woman, Cristina Antoniucci is anything but. While many Italian women we interviewed were reluctant to speak into a microphone with both a digital and video camera waiting for the "perfect shot," Cristina was all glowing smiles and even insisted we move to a different room for better lighting. This lady knows what's going on, we thought.

After meeting Franco Mansi ten years ago, Cristina agreed to leave her job at a language school in order to help him organize a different type of school. The team's vision of a smaller, more intimate language institution was completed that year. In order to maintain their goal of a more direct student/teacher relationship, through one on one contact, Cristina says they have all the ingredients: "Small village, small school, small class, small teachers!" Further explaining her philosophy of "small entity = big contact," Cristina tells us that 80 percent of her students return to Cagli two to three times after completing courses. "I don't know why," she says modestly. We tell her we will definitely be back.

"Women are very passionate in nature," Cristina remarks. "Along with understanding the psychology of people, you must be a diplomat as well." Because the students who come to learn at the Atrium are from all over the world, Cristina knows how important it is to be aware of other cultures and to avoid being offensive. She gets to know her students by looking into them. Only then is she able to find a deeper meaning. This is something she feels men have trouble with as teachers. "They are more straightforward," she explains. Cristina knows that in a classroom where students are trying to speak another language, it is easy to get embarrassed if a wrong pronunciation or answer is given. When this happens, she stops and simply changes gears. She credits her ability to sense a student's feelings to psychological intuition-something she believes is inherent in a woman.