Having completed my study abroad program in London and coming back home, I have had time to reflect on my experiences while abroad and how they have influenced not only my professional development, but my academic and personal growth as well. Before going on this program, I had hoped to be able to learn more about what business looked like internationally and be able to bring what I learned back with me and use it in future academic and professional endeavors. I believe that this experience allowed me to accomplish that and more. It has also given me an insight into what I would like my... Read More
Pitt Global Experiences Students' Blog
-
-
Hello from London! My name is Hannah Oliver, and I am a junior majoring in accounting and finance, minoring in economics, and pursuing a certificate program in international business. I currently serve as the Vice President of Finance for the Lambda chapter of the co-ed professional business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, and am an associate in Pitt Smart Women Securities. Outside of the classroom, I work as a Finance employee for the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). As you can probably tell, I am a finance fanatic! With this being said, I am beyond excited about... Read More
-
Here’s some things you should know about this life changing trip.
1. Students in your group are going to become your life-long best friends.Sure, pre-departure class is awkward, and I didn’t know half of their names the night before we left, but that changed quickly. I wouldn’t do anything differently about how I warmed up to my group, it was so natural. I think a lot of bonding happened when an Amazon River tried to take us down, when we had no electricity in the Amazon, and when we ate together for every single meal. Cherish the meals because that is when we reflected on the day... Read More -
During my time in London, I took an international finance class through CAPA, which is the program that coordinates study abroad with Pitt. This class was similar to my classes at Pitt in terms of things like class structure and assignments and I really enjoyed learning about international finance in a different country as it allowed me draw upon differences between what the finance world looked like in London and in America. The class assignments included a midterm, a final, and a final group project however the material our professor taught us adequately prepared us for these assignments... Read More
-
Being in London for a few weeks, I love to reflect on all of the lessons I have learned along the way. I am so grateful for this unique opportunity to grow and understand my strengths and weaknesses coming into this journey. Here are three pieces of advice that I would share with anyone interested in studying abroad in general or in London specifically:
1. Communication can still be tricky. I had the misconception that I would not encounter any communication barriers because I was studying in another English-speaking country. You can imagine how astonished I was when I first... Read More
-
For the past few days, I shut off my phone, lived with no electricity or soap, and opened my heart to the amazing Waorani People. When preparing for Ecuador, the concept of being a flexible traveler was stressed above all else. With almost no itinerary, my expectations for the trip were formed off of my own imagination. My group is the first ever to take the Plus3 program to Ecuador, so our advisors could not exactly tell us what to expect either.
Not only was I apart of the first Plus3 Ecuador groups, I was a part of the the first group of students to visit the Gomaton community.... Read More -
During my time in Salzburg, I stayed at the St. Sebastian Institute. There were dorms there for students, but the institute also functioned as a hostel, so travelers were always coming and going. I shared my dorm with two other students from my program. Though it would have been interesting to live with someone from Austria, it was nice to come back at the end of the day to people I knew and could study with. We had our own bathroom, but the kitchen was in a common space shared with everyone else living on the floor. Each person had their own little locked cubby and fridge section to keep... Read More
-
Spending the last six weeks living in London has given me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop professionally, academically, and personally. It seems like just yesterday I was pacing around the airport before boarding my first ever international flight. However, since then I have found a home in London, completed two classes and an internship abroad, and took six more international flights to visit Paris, Dublin, and Venice.
I have learned so many valuable skills from the City of London. The three most prominent life skills I am bringing back to America with me are... Read More
-
Throughout my time studying abroad in Berlin, I encountered many challenges I had never faced before. This was my first time in Europe and my first time living in a foreign country so I had to work to adapt to the culture. Overall, I feel like I did a good job overcoming the challenges I faced in Germany. I went into the program having completed cross-cultural training which helped with the cultural challenges, and it sounds dumb but my positive attitude helped me with all the other challenges. I came in knowing there were going to be hiccups along the way so I tried my best to laugh off... Read More
-
My daily life in Salzburg was pretty busy because of the intensity of classes and how short the program was. With four hours of classes a day and only four weeks in Salzburg, there was a lot I wanted to do in a short time. My first class started at 9 am, so I would wake up at 7:30 to get ready, make breakfast, pack lunch and walk to the bus stop by 8:25. Making my own breakfast and lunch was a big part of how I saved money during my time in Salzburg. We would normally go out for dinner most nights to see new parts of the city, so I needed to make up for the money spent there. After my... Read More