Claudine Buell

I attribute my success to the way I was raised, which I think has a lot to do with what I became. I also attribute it to never giving up, because we are alive, and as long as we are alive, there is always a possibility. Life has brought me through different opportunities at different times, and I've always gone back to where I came from in the way of loving the culture. I think what we have - our French culture, our literature, and our way of living - is something that is very well appreciated by American people, and I wanted to share that. Being able to pass that appreciation on to others has been a purpose and a privilege.

The best career advice I've ever received is that you learn through your failures. Failure is not necessarily something to be deeply discouraged by; rather it is an opportunity to grow and move forward.

Many highly successful people have experienced repeated setbacks before achieving their goals. In that sense, we either succeed or we learn - but failure itself is never wasted. It is part of the process that leads us to progress and resilience.

My advice to young women entering my field is that life is a gift, and we must do our best with the opportunities we are given. At times, this means making decisions despite uncertainty, even when it feels intimidating. We may succeed or we may not - but many of the most successful people have failure along the way. What mattters is the willingness to move forward and learn from those experiences.

It's also essential to find a healthy balance between work and family. For those with responsibilities that balance should support not only your own well being but also the people around you - both at home and in your professional environment.

for those considering a career as a professor, I would strongly encourage a PhD. While intermediate degrees can be valuable, they do not always open the same doors or provide opportunities that many expect.

The biggest challenges in my field right now are online learning and artificial intelligence. They bring positive things, but they are also challenging in the way that we maybe don't need - we think we don't need - the individual to teach, because we think we have the machines who can do it. I think that's a challenge. The real challenge about what I'm doing today is finding the connections - finding the people you want, or finding the way for the people to find you. That's my challenge - connecting with people that need what I can offer.

What's very important to me is that I can depend on people. What I mean is that if people say something they're going to do, they need to do it. I don't like people who don't keep their word. I think it's very important in the work environment as well as in the private life. That's what I found out with my years of dealing with people, and I think it's really the most important thing for me - that I can count on people who said they are there for me.