Patrick's 2010 trip to Spain was the beginning of a wild (his opinion) relationship with the Study Abroad Office. He was an office intern that fall before heading to France for the spring semester of 2011. A year later, a Program Manager very easily convinced him to defer graduation by a few months to study Chinese culture in Beijing as part of Pitt in China.
After graduation, Patrick moved to Tournon-sur-Rhône, France, to work as an English-language teaching assistant. That adventure sparked an interest in public service, public administration, and government. After his gap year, he returned to the university's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs to hone his policy analysis skills. During his time at GSPIA, Patrick did research for the University Center for Social and Urban Research, traveled to Brussels to learn about the European Union, added Portuguese to his language repertoire, and studied Latin American public policy.
Following his second graduation, Patrick greatly enjoyed spending time out west as the teaching assistant for the Wyoming Spring Creek Field Studies program. The coursework exploring public land and water management was a nice transition into his career with the City of Pittsburgh in 2015. Patrick remains with the City and is currently an Assistant Director in the Office of Management and Budget, where he has oversight over the City's operating budget.