Pitt Global Experiences Students' Blog

  • One of the main reasons my trip was so memorable was because of the amazing people I met on the trip. For our program we were assigned 4 German buddies that helped us explore and be familiar with Munich and take us to the activities planned for us. Our 4 buddies were students in the school we were attending in the master’s program. From the first day when they picked us up at the airport, we quickly became friends with them. They were so much fun having around and took us to the best activities such as a day trip to Austria, eating döner for the first time (best meal of the whole trip!),... Read More

  • The housing for my specific program was all apartments. My program leaders saw it as a way to fully immerse us into the culture and lifestyle of Italy, so we lived in apartments all across Florence. I had 7 roommates, which was the most that one could have. At first this overwhelmed me, as I had never lived with a roommate before—much less 7 strangers. When we arrived in Florence, we stayed at a hotel the first night while our apartments were being prepared for our arrival. It was there that I met 2 of my eventual roommates, and we instantly got along very well. They were just as nervous... Read More

  • Before coming to Berlin, I had high expectations for my experience while trying to remain open to whatever may happen. I was so intent on ensuring that I would grow professionally, academically, and personally that it actually began to stress me out. Making the most of my summer in Berlin was so exciting, yet so anxiety-inducing when I thought too much about my fear of wasting the opportunity. I wish that I had known there was nothing to worry about, because growth happens naturally in new situations, especially a nine-week program in a new and exciting country.
     
    After... Read More

  • The best thing about Engineering the German Way Program was that everyday was completely different and exciting. Every morning we would get up early and either cook breakfast or walk to the bakery close to our hotel to pick up croissants and pretzels and other delicious pastries. Munich also had the most delicious orange juice I have ever tasted, and I craved it every morning. During the week our class schedule was different every day, but we would usually start class at 9am. We either had one, two, or three lectures and whenever we had few lectures in the morning it meant we had a very... Read More

  • My study abroad experience was different than most students in that I did not attend a university in my home country but studied at a global education network comprised of all American students. CAPA offered me several opportunities that I am extremely grateful for, the most being I had a homebase full of familiar faces in an unknown place. Being my first time abroad, I found that extremely beneficial. However, now having this experience under my belt I would have liked the opportunity to easily meet more people from London, which is easier for students who traditionally study abroad at a... Read More

  • As a picky eater for the first nineteen years of my life, I would agree that food is the window to the soul. My particularity about what I eat definitely reflected my stubbornness and specificity for my life choices. Like with my food preferences, I was always a bit rigid and stressed out easily when things outside of the norm occurred. I am so glad to say that this experience in Berlin changed that. I felt that as I grew to be a more open and flexible person, my food palate also expanded. Something that remained the same, though, was my affinity for eating out much too often. Even in... Read More

  • Hello readers! I am so excited to be writing to you from across the pond in London, England! To start with a little about myself, my name is Hailey Hunter. I’m a rising senior marketing major with certificates in business analytics, leadership & ethics, and public & professional writing. This summer I will be blogging from the Global Business Institute London program, where I will spend 6 weeks with CAPA, The Global Education Network. There, I will be taking the classes, Writing the City as well as Analyzing and Exploring the Global City with a cohort of American students from... Read More

  • When planning to travel abroad, the essentials always come to mind first. Whether it's your favorite pair of socks, a specific kind of toothpaste that you always have to use, or a hoodie that holds significant value to you, everything has its place within your suitcase. Things like your passport and ID will always travel with you, but I’ve found that it’s mental preparation that catches you off guard before something you forgot to pack. For example, while traveling to Belgium, I accounted for the six hours of sleep I would lose by staying busy all day and crashing hard onto the hotel bed... Read More

  • Studying abroad taught me a million and one lessons, ones I didn’t even know I needed to know. From traveling on planes, trains, and automobiles, to celebrating home country’s holidays, to breaking down language barriers in non-english-speaking countries, I believe there is no better way to catalyze one’s global competency than studying abroad. However, because there is so much to learn and explore, no one can ever be fully prepared for what they’re getting into. And I am no exception. 
     
    One piece of background I wish I would have developed before going abroad was the history... 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