Hello from London! It feels good to be blogging about my international travels actually from abroad this time! Spring 2021, I took a course called International Consulting, where I documented my experiences working with a German company in Augsburg within the four walls of my Oakland bedroom. But now I’m writing to you from a coffee shop in Southwark (pronounced “Suffolk”, weird right?), which is one of the 32 boroughs in London! I have been having an absolute blast in this new global city on the Global Business Institute and I’m so excited to take you all along for the ride.

My name is Hailey Hunter, and I am a rising senior marketing major with certificates in Business Analytics, Leadership & Ethics, and Public & Professional Writing. I currently serve as the President for Women in Business and just finished my term as the Co-Vice President of Public Relations in the professional business organization, Phi Beta Lambda. Outside the classroom, I am a Professional Development Consultant for the Pitt Business Career Development Center! After a hectic school year coming back from COVID, I am so excited to embark on this new journey in a new place.

One thing about me, is I have been dreaming about study abroad, as long as I can remember thinking about college. They have always been one in the same in my mind. In fact, out of the endless reasons behind me choosing to go to Pitt, the study abroad programs were at the top of my list. That being said, it has been a very difficult two years, having study abroad programs cancelled, trying virtual ones, and almost giving up all hope. But here we are! Across the pond and ready for once-in-a-lifetime experiences packed into 6 weeks!

Because of the delay in ability to study abroad, my goals personally, academically, and professionally have changed immensely since I originally decided to pursue this opportunity. The independency and adaptation personally that comes with this journey really is giving me a glimpse of what life is going to be like in less than a year, when I eventually graduate and enter the intense changes of post-grad life. That is something I would not have considered as a rising sophomore in spring 2021. Navigating the tube, becoming familiar with my neighborhood, where to buy groceries, how to make friends from different backgrounds, are all skills I am going to utilize again this time next year, so I hope to eventually develop a sense of comfort and home here, like I will have to wherever I find myself post-graduation.

Professionally and academically, I additionally hope to embrace more creative strategies of becoming a better marketer and businesswoman. With that goal in mind, I have decided to not take direct business classes, but classes that I hope will give me a new perspective on how to think in business. Both Writing the City and Analyzing and Exploring the Global City I hope will give me a new foundation of describing and presenting opportunities in business.

With these goals, I can’t wait to show you the rest of my journey abroad! Enjoy the ride!