Hello! My name is Madeleine Murphy but call me Murph! I am currently a sophomore accounting major with the University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration. I plan to attain my master’s in accounting here at Pitt as well with the Katz Graduate School of Business. Currently I hold a leadership position in the University of Pittsburgh Accounting Association. I am the Vice President of Operations, so I send out our meeting information to members and improve meeting moral. I recently accepted a summer 2025 internship with Deloitte here in Pittsburgh, so I am super excited for that. Aside from school, I am involved in SAO, which is a Christian sorority here at Pitt. We are re-founding our chapter this semester, hoping to attract more members. I also attend RUF, which is a co-ed worship group. I also manage an online retail store and have over 270 sales. I started this during the pandemic and have really enjoyed learning how to be successful. In my free time, when I have it, I enjoy making crafts, listening to music, hanging out with friends, going to sports games, going to the gym, trying new foods, and thrifting. I have loved coming to Pittsburgh and exploring the various activities Pittsburgh has to offer. I love the city, and more specifically Pitt! I feel as through Pitt Business has set me up for success for my career and life. I would never have had this opportunity if it weren’t for Pitt Business, so I am grateful for my experience. I seriously cannot wait to be in Trinidad and help in any way I can. I also am super excited to travel abroad with a group I have gotten close to over the course of the semester.  I have previously traveled abroad with the Pitt Plus3 Program to Cyprus and loved my experience. I know I will enjoy my time, so I am eager to go.

I decided to participate in this program because I have always been passionate about helping others, whether that be my friends, family, or community. I want to make a positive impact in the world and leave my mark for others to benefit from. I also have a passion for the environment and think of small ways I can make a positive impact on the environment with my day-to-day footprint. But this is not enough to make a big enough impact for what the world needs with climate changing affecting water levels, temperature, and species. Having this opportunity will allow me to make a difference in a nonprofit’s operations that is making a huge difference in the community, supporting others, and protecting wildlife. My academic goals are to learn how a nonprofit operates and how to make an inventory spreadsheet. So far in my academic career, I have not learned anything about nonprofits, so I am excited to see a different side of business that is an arguably more important side of business, an organization that is bettering society. My professional goals are to somewhat experience the job of a consultant. I want to learn how to manage client relations, maintain a positive communication line, provide excellent customer service, performing above client expectations, writing a scope of work, and deliverables. My online retail store has taught me small pieces of information that is applicable to maintaining positive client relations. However, the experience I will gain on this service-learning program will teach me aspects I can apply further down the line when I work for an accounting firm because in the future, I will also be working with clients to further improve their business operations. This type of service-learning project is all new to me so I am ambitious to learn all that I can. My personal goals are to get a taste for service learning so that I can be a better citizen who contributes to society in a positive manner and be more involved as I grow up. I have a lot of role models in my life who are part of programs that better society, and I would love to follow in their footsteps to help others. I also want to make an impact in the community in Trinidad. It will feel amazing to make a difference, knowing the client and community was helped. I want to proudly represent the University of Pittsburgh and the United States for people who want to help others and not overrule local values and beliefs. When helping a client it is important to focus a project on their beliefs and attitudes because you are working for them, not the other way around. Helping Nature Seeker’s in a positive way will hopefully maintain trust of Americans.

The Global Service-Learning project object is to improve a client’s operations. The client is Nature Seekers, located in Matura, Trinidad. They make a huge impact on their community by doing sea turtle conservation, nature tours, and community outreach. They provide goods and products to people who may need them in the community. Specifically, our group will be creating an inventory spreadsheet to help organize their business operations. This will allow for easier data requests by having a user-friendly inventory organizational system that is paperless. We will then assist them in country to implement the system and make sure they know how to use it and are comfortable with it. We want to make sure the client understands what we have created for them because when we leave, it will be theirs to use in their daily lives. Our group will also be looking at some marketing tools so Nature Seekers can attract more people to their cause and purpose. We are looking into creating videos and posts for their social media platforms. This organization is incredibly important to their local community as they have saved sea turtles from being poached or hurt. The community outreach program they have greatly impacts the community by providing goods to people who may need it. As a whole, Nature Seeker’s practices are impacting the community and making a positive impact. I cannot wait!