Where Languages Take You

From classroom to career, and everywhere in between

Every student's path is unique, but the skills developed through French, Francophone, and Italian Studies open doors in countless directions. Our alumni are using their language proficiency, cultural insight, and global perspective to lead, create, teach, innovate, and connect across industries and around the world. Explore their stories and imagine where your own journey could begin.

George Gabriel '19

George Gabriel's studies in German, French, and Portuguese best prepared him to not only move, work, and continue his education abroad without any communicative hurdles, but also return to the U.S. and find and start a career in business within niche companies where his soft skills in foreign languages and business culture were just as important as the hard skills. Gabriel notes, "Anyone can learn how to operate Office Suite, but mastering the interactions with others in business inside a specific culture will help you earn an enormous amount of respect amongst future business partners or colleagues, showing you invested so much time in learning not only their language, which is foreign to you, but also their customs, rituals, and even traditions." This is where the College of Charleston’s School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs helped Gabriel excel, and everything else career-wise fell into place afterward, including founding and co-directing the non-profit WorldLang America.

Melissa McLaughlin '20

Christina Ferrell '22

Since graduating, Christina Ferrell has built a career that puts her language skills and global perspective into practice. Now a Senior Program Coordinator at Pyxera Global in Alexandria, Virginia, she helps manage international, skills-based volunteer programs that connect corporate pro bono consultants with organizations worldwide. Ferrell's role occasionally gives her the opportunity to use both French and Russian, including during a recent two-week work trip to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. There, she helped prepare for a four-week program that pairs Abidjan-based nonprofits with international consultants who provide expertise in areas such as organizational growth and financial strategy. The experience marked her first trip to Africa and offered an immersive opportunity to strengthen her French. “It was a bunch of long days, but I had a great time, learned a lot, and was able to practice my French,” Ferrell says. 

Her French degree has also influenced her career in ways that extend beyond language proficiency. Courses in advanced grammar, literature, and business challenged her to communicate complex ideas in another language. Ferrell explains, "That environment gave me the space to continue practicing and gain confidence in myself in difficult, unfamiliar situations." 

Initially hoping to work in democracy-building and human rights, she joined Pyxera Global to support a USAID economic development program serving innovative enterprises in Eastern Europe. After USAID's dissolution, her role shifted to coordinating the organization’s pro bono consulting programs and working more closely with private-sector partners. Although skills-based volunteering was not a field she initially envisioned for herself, she has discovered work she enjoys and, most importantly, work in which she can see a meaningful impact.

Cady Walker ’23

Cady Walker graduated with majors in French and Francophone Studies and Psychology. After graduation, she spent two years as a research assistant in a speech pathology lab at MUSC, studying language development in late-talking toddlers. Her French studies and experience navigating a language barrier while studying abroad in La Rochelle brought a human perspective to her research. Since October 2024, Walker has served as a teaching assistant through TAPIF in La Réunion, where she has deepened her understanding of Francophone and Creole cultures first explored through her coursework at the College.

Living and teaching in La Réunion has also transformed Walker’s relationship with the French language. Immersion challenged her to move beyond the reading and writing skills she developed in the classroom and become more comfortable speaking spontaneously. She brings that experience to her own students, encouraging them to prioritize communication over getting everything right: “It’s not about perfection, it’s about connection.” Her advice to current students is much the same, "Embrace discomfort, take risks, and seek opportunities to use French beyond the classroom. As they say in Réunion Creole, 'tipa tipa narrivé,' little by little, we’ll get there."