In the challenging and supportive environment of Glion, Master’s student and former Senior Ambassador Louis Becker found the perfect place to learn all about luxury.

The pursuit of excellence can take people all over the world. It took 26-year-old German student Louis Becker to Switzerland and Glion’s Master’s in Luxury Management and Guest Experience. And his experience there more than exceeded his expectations.

From inspiring program content and supportive, expert faculty to great teamwork and challenging extra-curricular responsibilities, Louis found the program and overall environment perfectly suited to the study of luxury and great for his career prospects too.

“Glion has developed my academic skills in an impeccable environment,” he says. “The professors have been incredibly supportive, but have also challenged me and my classmates every day.

“The faculty have a creative and practical teaching style that really helped me understand the theory, while the organized structure has given me a much greater insight into the luxury economy and its importance. Most notably, my teachers have shown me the luxury market is so much more than just excellent service and beautiful things.”

Different perspectives

Louis also highlighted the benefits in terms of academic and personal development of the faculty’s different teaching methods and backgrounds as well as the new perspectives guest lecturers brought to the table.

“I believe the diversity of our professors and the distinct personal style of teaching each had kept us highly motivated throughout the program,” he says. “I found hearing about their wide-ranging experiences enabled a better understanding of the subject matter and taught me how to adapt and become more creative.

“Alongside this, every week a new industry expert would visit from one of the numerous top luxury brands around the globe to share with us their insights into their profession and vision of what high quality means to them. It was incredibly inspiring.”

Challenge and opportunity

It hasn’t all been plain sailing – Glion’s Master’s program content is meant to be a challenge – but Louis has found support from peers as well as professors to help him along the way.

“For me, the courses on ‘Blockchain within the luxury industry’ and ‘Corporate finance’ were the most difficult,” he says. “But what I loved about our class was we had an attitude that no-one would be left behind, so we all worked together to aid each other’s understanding. This enabled me to overcome the challenges and showed me the value of teamwork.”

As well as pushing Master’s students, the program content is also designed to inspire, something Louis was keen to highlight.

“We covered some terrific topics on the program as well, including ‘Service culture and operational excellence’ and ‘Ultra-luxury travel and experiences’,” he says. “This latter in particular was fascinating and gave all of us a better understanding of the significant gap between the luxury and the ultra-luxury market.”

Career orientation

It’s one thing to gain an understanding of theory, but it’s quite another to know what to do with that knowledge. Fortunately for Louis, the educational philosophy at Glion provides the perfect blend of theory and practice.

“Not only are we taught how to apply our newly acquired knowledge, we’re also given the chance to put it into practice in the real world,” he says. “This is through both practical workshops and the internships, which give you a great insight into the market as well as connections with the industry that could potentially open doors in future.

“I found this really valuable and great preparation for a career in luxury. You get to learn about many different aspects of the industry as well as gaining a deeper understanding of your strengths and how to position yourself.”

Outside the excellent academic results Louis achieved, he also believes a Glion education equipped him with the soft skills he will need to succeed in his chosen field.

“I worked hard to achieve good grades,” he says. “But Glion gives you much more than that. As a Senior Ambassador, I got the chance to hone many different skills, such as time management, leadership and events organization. And what’s more, there is the ‘Glion spirit’ for which the school is famous around the world. It’s the evidence any future employer needs that my program here has supported me to become the best version of myself.”