We are quickly approaching the second week of our six-week study abroad program and I must say, where is the time going! It feels like only yesterday my flight from Baltimore to London just landed, with my heart being full of curiosity and excitement. I can happily share, I still carry these feelings, and more, around with me today. I am absolutely in love with the area I live in, the people I am surrounded by, and most importantly, my internship placement.
The living location I was assigned to is in this absolutely gorgeous, lovely town called Maide of Vale. This area of London is filled with beautifully elegant homes, festive pubs, high-end vehicles, and a lively community. I am residing in a flat located within one of the houses just up the street from Little Venice, London. Within my flat lives myself plus five other girls, two of which are also business majors from the University of Pittsburgh. While the other three of my roommates are students at the University of Minnesota, majoring in Neuroscience and Nursing. Each of us are pursuing different internships and I really enjoy this environment because it allows me to learn a lot from their experiences while also sharing mine. This mixed dynamic of students truly does build my appreciation and passion for being abroad. One thing I do love most about London (especially my housing location) is how accesible it is to navigate the city. The tube station is a five minute walk from me which allows unlimited opportunity to travel throughout London. Not to mention, the amazing sights and neighborhoods located right next door that are very walkable to get to. This past weekend, we effortlessly walked down to Kensington Palace and strolled through the park’s beautiful gardens!
Now, GBI isn’t only about walks of leisure and sight-seeing, there also lays the biggest responsibility of classes and internships. As mentioned in my previous post, I will be participating in an International Finance course in addition to a Global Internship Course (GIC). These classes are administrated by CEA Capa, our host education abroad office who coordinates the GBI program. Their office is located in the absolute heart of London. The area that surrounds us is ten times busier than what we consider our “city” campus at Pitt… London takes the cake for activity! The building itself is smaller and gives Thackeray vibes rather than the Cathedral (if you know you know!) Yet, the people within starting with the professors all the way to the front desk staff have been phenomenal. Pitt is a very people oriented institution which I believe Capa carries on fairly well in London.
As for my internship, I have touched on Vaela previously, with their mission being sustainable, yet also fashionable, women’s cycling clothing. I’ve now had a chance to experience my first day of interning with them which has been so rewarding. This company is within the sustainable production industry which is an entirely new world to me. My role is to first, take an overlook of the company’s financial documents (income statements, balance sheets, etc) and translate this information into a pitch deck for investors. My main goal for this project is to ensure that Vaela’s performance can be communicated to potential investors efficiently. I am one who is very keen to project organization and believe I can create a deck that is easily understandable to folks outside of the financial world. On the other hand, my second role is to create a social media campaign that will be in collaboration with another company to be launched online, hoping to reach an audience on their Instagram and TikTok. I truly do enjoy using social media as a marketing strategy as I do this everyday with my own business at home. I’m sure I can help Vaela learn some practices that will aid in buyer attraction through these platforms. I also had the opportunity to attend an event titled Purposeful Profits alongside my supervisor, where we showcased some of their products to other sustainable brands who were in attendance. A panel from these companies was given that taught me much about up-cycling, product testing and the importance of failures leading to growth. This was an amazing opportunity I am honored to be in present for.
To end our first official week of this journey, we took a trip to Stonehenge and the Roman Baths which was impecable. Words cannot explain how warm my heart felt during this huge bucket list moment for me. These last few days has been so eye-opening, so rewarding, and special. I’ve been given the opportunity to be apart of once in a lifetime experiences both professionally and personally I will cherish forever. TO THE STONES!
