Hello Everyone! I am now living in the Haymarket neighborhood in Sydney Australia. It is more in the middle of Sydney so I am close to most things and public transport is very close by. My favorite thing about my new neighborhood is how I can walk to everything I need. Where I am from I need a car to get anywhere so I definitely enjoy the change of living somewhere very walkable. There are a lot of restaurants, markets, and stores within walking distance of me. My living situation is an apartment with seven other students where I share a bedroom and bathroom with one other student in my program. Then we all share a living area and kitchen. I feel that I have adapted well to my living situation as I feel that I get along with everyone that I live with as well as feel comfortable in my apartment like it is my actual home. This is somewhat similar to my living situation at Pitt but there are some key differences that still cause it to be an adjustment. First, although I do live in an off campus apartment at Pitt I only have three roommates and we each have our own rooms so going back to sharing a bedroom is an adjustment. Also, there are just a lot more people living in one space as opposed to only having 3 roommates which just means that there is always someone around to hang out with and something to do.

My internship is NSW Volleyball which is an organization whose goal is to spread and provide the game of volleyball at all levels to the state of New South Wales, Australia. My main role will be helping the Pathways team with their trials for their competitive teams as well as assisting in other parts of the organization as needed. This office experience is different from anything I have seen while working in the US as the office space is entirely open as there is open communication between all levels of employees to the CEO. This is different from the US where usually the heads of the company are tucked away in an office and hard to find unless you report directly to them. Along with my internship, I am also taking a Sports Marketing class during my time in Sydney. Between these two things, I will have to develop and strengthen my communication skills as in both my internship and class, I will be doing a lot of group work and so being able to communicate in a clear and concise way will make me a valuable asset to any group that I am a part of. I can’t wait to see what else there is to come!