My name is Laurie Hurtado Vessely and I am a retired physician (endocrinologist). While I hardly used French in my career, I am still happy to have gotten a French degree. Now that I am retired, I am immersed in language study, taking multiple classes weekly in both French and Spanish and listening to podcasts and books in both languages. I feel that studying languages has opened my eyes to other cultures in a way that may not have been otherwise possible.