My time here in London has been amazing and for so many different reasons and aspects. I’ve had the unique opportunity to learn about international finance in the form of a collegiate class as well as participating in an internship class on top of an actual professional corporate financial analyst internship role. My experience overall was awe-inspiring as well as challenging. Being able to complete projects, papers, homework, and studying at the same time as fulfilling my duties at work presented some strenuous and tedious situations, but I believe everything culminated for the better for me during this program through personal and professional growth. More specifically on the professional side of things, I believe that this program has helped me develop my key financial corporate skills such as budgeting, projecting, depreciation and amortization, account and statement reconciliation, performance reports and more. To add, my office soft skills were also enhanced over the course of this program such as time management, problem solving, and communication. On the personal side of my experience here, learning how to use and navigate the Tube in my day-to-day life presented another unknown foreign challenge at first that had me lost and confused. I not only was able to figure it out but learned how to find back-up routes easily and on the spot whenever an unexpected shutdown happened. To add, my experiences seeing some of the beautiful London sights was amazing and experiencing what the city had to offer was a privilege. We went and saw Tower Bridge, the London Eye, the British Museum, Leicester Square, London Stadium (for the Phillies game…go Phils), and Big Ben. 

In terms of my personal growth from participating in this program, I believe that I have gotten a better understanding of myself in general simply by observing my day-to-day life here and how I have improved professionally since I’ve been here. More specifically, before I came here, I was incredibly nervous, timid, and unsure about what living in London was actually going to be like as well as other important unknown factors such as commuting, performing effectively in my job, and figuring out what places to go in my flat’s neighborhood. As cliche as it may sound, stepping out of my comfort zone to be able to live in London across all factors and facets mentioned above has really aided in my personal growth. When asked how I can incorporate these key takeaways that I’ve been able to identify throughout this trip into my everyday life back at Pitt Business, I would definitely say that the time management aspect of things really comes in handy when needing to study, look for internships, while also continuing to be an active member in my clubs and organizations. This is definitely a basic answer, but staying true to reality and how I can actually apply a skill that I believe I have thoroughly developed and worked on during my time here, I think this example works the best for me! I think becoming more confident in uncertain situations and accustomed to change has also helped in my overall growth as a person traveling, studying, and working abroad!