Hey all! My name is Sydney Alderman.

I am currently majoring in Marketing and Global Management and minoring in Italian at the University of Pittsburgh, and plan to graduate after the upcoming fall semester – time flies! I then plan to continue my education at Pitt at the Katz Graduate School of Business while I pursue a Specialized Masters in Marketing Science. But before I get to all of that, I’ll be spending the summer studying abroad! If you’ve come to this blog, you probably already knew that, but I’d like to tell you a little bit more about why I chose this program : GBI Sydney – Sports Business.

One of the many reasons I chose the program was for the location. When I was little, I would always tell people “My name is Sydney, like in Australia!” and since then I have had a fascination with the country. I absolutely can’t wait to have a connection to Australia that is more than just a name. This program also stood out to me because of the emphasis on athletics. For the past 3 years, I have had the opportunity to be on the Division I Track and Field Team at Pitt and compete at a totally new level. Sports have always been a part of my life, whether it was playing or watching. So when I saw that there was a program that could incorporate that love of sports into my academic and professional life as well, I jumped at the chance. While abroad, I will be taking a Sports Marketing class and participating in an internship in a sports business area. I am still unsure of which company I’ll be with, but nonetheless I am extremely excited to work in an environment that is fueled by the competitive mindset that accompanies athletics!

Aside from the track team, I am also a member of the Sports Business Association and Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. Both of which are organizations where I’ve been able to grow as a leader and develop professionally. I also work as a digital media analyst for a company called Universal Media-Analytics (at their office in central PA in the summers and remotely while I am at school). For 3 years, I have been lucky enough to optimize programmatic buying campaigns and create advertising proposals for them (and so much more) but now I can’t wait to take this summer in a whole new direction.

I’ll be embarking on the trip of a lifetime in just 3 short weeks so be sure to stay tuned for more posts about my experience in the Land Down Under. See you soon, Sydney!