"Having completed an advanced degree in Applied Physics before studying at GTL, my primary goal was to specialize further on the practical side of optical engineering. My goal was to live, study, and work in France while achieving language fluency. The GTL program interested me because it enabled me to attend Supelec, and to do a 6-month internship, and to completely immerse myself in the French language except for a short period of the initial GTL classes.

The benefits were:
- Learning French language and culture was outstanding.
- In a school setting, the French students were very welcoming and excited to share about their culture (more than American counterparts do with foreign students in the USA, I believe).
- Studying, living and working abroad opened the door later in my life to other similar opportunities to travel, live and work abroad. It is amazing how one's knowledge and experience can be the deciding factor in opening the door to other experiences.
- Learning about a culture is not complete until one learns the language and hopefully lives in the country. GTL enabled this experience and it was immensely rewarding.

Major traceable impacts:
- I was selected for my first job at Intel Corp back in 1997 based not only on my educational background, but also the interest and competence in dealing with diverse cultures.
- I was offered the chance to live and work in Italy again later in my life based on my demonstrated interest and competence in this area.
- My ability to negotiate and interact with individuals and organizations across all cultures has been greatly enhanced by the understanding and experiences I acquired through the GTL experience.
There are undoubtedly many less directly traceable positive impacts."