Hey everyone! My name is Jackie Guhl and I’m just finishing up my second year at the University of Pittsburgh in the College of Business Administration. At the moment I’m double majoring in Accounting and Business Information Systems, with a minor in Administration of Justice and possibly a certificate in Data Analytics. Just about half way done with my degree and I still can’t wrap my head around that fact. On a more personal note, I am originally from Lancaster, PA, more commonly known as Amish Country. Although I’m not Amish, I do have cows in my backyard, so I guess that counts? I have three siblings: two sisters in twelfth and second grade and a brother in eleventh. I played soccer for about 17 years growing up, but I’m not as involved with it at Pitt. Here, I’m involved in Pitt Dance Marathon (PDM), The University of Pittsburgh Accounting Association (UPAA) and I recently got into Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), a professional business organization.

During May of 2018, I had the honor of participating in Plus3 Germany, where I spent two weeks in Augsburg, Germany studying the automobile industry. This was actually the first time that I had ever left the United States, so I was incredibly excited about it. I had the time of my life there and I learned so much about Germany and the automotive industry in general. Obviously that wasn’t enough for me because this coming summer I will be spending six weeks in London on the Global Business Institute (GBI) London: International Accounting Issues program. While there we will be learning about various international accounting standards and the issues that result from conducting accounting internationally. Along with the class, I will also be participating in a part time internship somewhere in the accounting field. The exact location is still to be determined, but I will keep you guys updated. I am extremely excited to take part in the program, not only due to the fact that I will be living in London for six weeks, but because I want to work abroad in the future. Ideally, after graduation I want to work for one of the Big Four accounting firms and then internationally within that firm. What better way to prepare for that than spending a month and a half interning and studying in London?

While in London, I am looking forward to trying fish and chips as well as various other traditional foods to broaden my pallet. I am also excited to visit the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament and as many other sites I can possibly visit in the six weeks I have there. In the end, I really want to understand London and their cultural differences in comparison to the United States. This will help me to better understand the world around me and create a global mindset when conducting business and other parts of my life.

At the end of the program, I am grateful enough to have my family come and meet me in London and we will be spending an additional week there, so I will have even more time to expand my cultural awareness and broaden my horizons.

I will be leaving on May 21st and I can’t wait! Don’t worry, though, I’ll keep you all updated along the way.

Talk to you all later!