Changing Perpectives At Home and Abroad

This May, I studied abroad on Pitt’s Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability: Florence program. Studying abroad was such a unique experience that was so different from anything I’ve ever done before. The studies on this program focused on the advancements in engineering that were made during the Renaissance time period and looked at how different sustainability concepts were present during that time. We also took an art history course that introduced us to the amazing art that was made during the Renaissance, as well as some of the incredible architecture. Because the study abroad was only for a month, I had both of my classes every weekday except Friday when I only had my engineering class. The classes were also two hours long. This alone was very different than my classes usually are at Pitt. I take more classes during a semester at Pitt, but each class is shorter and I only have them two to three times a week. The differences made the study abroad more intense because even though there were less assignments overall, they had to be done in a shorter amount of time than I was used to. The way the study abroad lectures were set up were also different than what I’m used to from Pitt. They were less of a lecture to learn a lot and get really good at everything, and more of an introduction to the topics. Especially when we got to sustainability there was a lot of discussion about what we as a class found most interesting and how we wanted to look at modern day sustainability. Altogether, the time constraints for completing the courses meant assignments had to be done quickly, but the professors made sure that they weren’t overwhelming us with work.
 
The structure of a class is only part of a classroom environment. It is also shaped by the people that are there. One thing that did make the study abroad classes easier is that we did a lot of the assignments in groups. It was a neat experience to get to work with new people who were also mostly engineers from Pitt. Studying abroad is a chance to experience a new perspective of the people and culture of where you’re studying. But I found on this study abroad that it’s also important to get new perspectives from home. The discussions we had in class about sustainability or the different mechanical innovations of the Renaissance were made more interesting because we had people from all different majors contributing to the discussion. I think the best thing about the classes during my study abroad was the professors. Each one of them was knowledgeable and passionate about what they were teaching. I learned so much from them, and I really appreciated getting to work with them. All in all, I am very happy with how my studies went abroad. I meet some really cool people, and learned so many things I wouldn’t have gotten to learn anywhere else.