Hi! My name is Sherlyn and I am currently a Junior at The University of Pittsburgh’s College of Business Administration double majoring in Global Management and Supply Chain Management with a minor in Economics. I was previously in the University of Pittsburgh’s Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences as a Nutritional Science major pursuing a career as a Physicians Assistant. After one semester I knew Dietrich wasn’t the place for me so I made the switch to PittBusiness and it was the best decision I ever made for myself.  I’m originally from Silver Spring, Maryland which is about 20 minute drive from Washington, D.C. where my entire childhood consisted of going to the Natural History Museum that is located across the National Mall, taking quinceañera photos in front of the Lincoln Memorial and hiding under trees when we would all go to the National Zoo to cool down. After graduating from Pitt, I will be going back home and hopefully be working in the D.C. area. This year I’ll be spending the summer with the Yinzers!! as I’ll be spending the majority of my summer as an Operations intern at BNY Mellon which I am extremely excited for. I’m not just excited for the amazing opportunity that I was able to obtain, but to also first-hand experience Picklesburgh this summer! When I am not on Pitt campus, I am usually at work Downtown creating great memories with my co-workers who are basically my family away from home.

 Before I went into undergrad I knew that if I didn’t want to be a Physicians Assistant anymore, I would do some sort of international business. I was always so curious about one-on-one interactions with people on a business level when it came to differences in culture and language. Switching my major and applying to Global Service Learning has allowed me to order to learn and grow from them at an international level, hence I am going to Bolivia to experience that for myself. I decided to participate in Global Service Learning – Bolivia because I knew I wanted to study abroad, but I also wanted to participate in a Pitt program that focused on helping others around the world. Working in the restaurant industry throughout most of my time in undergrad I have met such great people with so many different cultural backgrounds that only made me realize more and more that I had not only chosen the correct career path, but that I wanted to see and experience different cultures. I’ve always wanted to travel around the world, learn new customs and experience the world (hence the global management major) so I knew this program would be a great fit for me. With Spanish being my first language, I am looking forward to experiencing other Latin cultures besides my own. Although I was surrounded by Latin culture as my parents are Mexican, my entire childhood I don’t think I’ve ever met someone from the south, South America which is crazy for me to even say. People consider me very outgoing and social so I hope by going on this trip, I am able to find new things about myself not just as a student, but how this experience might change my perspective on a lot of things I would’ve never thought about until I come back from this trip.

Global Service Learning – Bolivia focuses on working alongside two AMAZING non-profit organizations. As Pitt Students we are consultants in this project trying to help alongside Amizade to help CEOLI which is in Cochabamba, Bolivia that focuses on providing different forms of therapy services to children with disabilities such as down syndrome and autism. Amizade is another non-profit organization which is a Pittsburgh based non-profit organization focusing on helping students in the States to participate in service learning from an international standpoint. One of PittBusiness’, Amizade, and CEOLI main goals by teaming up are to come up with funds and social media attraction for CEOLI. Most of the demographics that CEOLI helps are those who are lower-income. This makes it relatively very difficult for CEOLI to have enough funds to keep the non-profit going. This is my first consulting project I have participated in. Don’t get me wrong, I am very excited, but this is something new that I am not familiar with which makes me even more intrigued to finding solutions to their problems and be able to help them out where I can. By PittBusiness and Amizade teaming together to help CEOLI become more and more successful makes me excited to create change in such a positive way. Our group is currently preparing to submit our scope of work where we break down what needs to be accomplished during our short time there.

 When we first met up with one of the directors of CEOLI, we had a plan to tackle the 2021 previous 10 year plan, but of course with COVID-19 and several other global issues around the world, there has been significant change since then. Our group had to come together and focus on a couple of big things that we want to accomplish while we are there. The first one is increasing their media presence. Since most of the people who need to come in are children, we are finding ways to attract more adult audiences through their Facebook account and finding free resources that allow them to consistently have eye-catching media. Additionally, trying to create a 10-year plan to let them participate in the International Fair yearly to bring in more people and donations to their cause. Why is it part of the 10-year program? Well, since we’re only there a week there is only so much we can accomplish and we do not have enough donors to get them to the fair this year. In addition to donors, we have to provide enough materials for their stands, pamphlets, transportation for their therapists, etc. Which is why we’re starting off by improving their social media tactics and the next group and start coming up with game plans to get them there. 

I’m so happy to be part of such a great PittBusiness program that is helping those who are working towards a great cause! On top of traveling and helping CEOLI I’m most excited about the food and the culture differences from the United States and Bolivia. ¡Nos vemos en Marzo Bolivia!