Hi everyone! I can’t believe that I’m writing this but in 2 days I’ll be heading to Dublin for an 8-week-long internship abroad! I’m very excited to have the opportunity to share my journey with you guys!

 My name is Luiza Safe Carneiro Serwy, I’m a rising junior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Economics and Marketing. I love math, reading, traveling, music and meeting people. At Pitt I’m involved in the Pitt Program Council (PPC) – an undergraduate student led organization that plans and organizes multiple different on campus and off campus events like Fall Fast, Bigelow Bash, daytrips and more for all undergraduate students. I love getting the chance to help plan, organize and see so many events through. Being a part of Pitt Program Council made me realize that I also wanted a career in event planning and marketing. As a part of multiple committees within the PPC I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people that were double majoring in the both the Business School and at the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and they showed me was possible to do a degree in both Economics and in Marketing which unites my passion for math, analysis, human behavior and event planning. At Pitt I’m also involved in the Brazilian Student Association (BRASA), a cultural club which I’m the business manager for. This organization has allowed me to stay connected with my culture, help other Brazilian students that are studying in the US, and it has provided me with the opportunity to experience being in a leadership position allowing me to get a more hands-on type of experience managing finances and planning events. Throughout my time at BRASA, I’ve gotten the chance to help plan and take members of the organization to a national conference called BRASA summit that allows Brazilian students to connect with other Brazilian students studying abroad and with potential employees both in the United States and in Brazil.

This summer I’ll be interning with the Undergraduate Student Awards organization and getting the chance to work in areas that involve communication, research, promotion, and marketing. This will be my first internship so I’m very excited to get the opportunity to finally get a professional real-world experience in marketing. While I hope to work in an area where I can use both my degrees, my primary interest would be to get a job in the world of digital marketing and event planning so this internship feels like the perfect opportunity to get a better understanding of what that might entail. Throughout my time at Pitt I’ve met wonderful professors who encouraged me to explore different fields in professional careers and I’m very glad I’ll have the opportunity to do so now and in a different country! One of my goals is to work at a multinational company in which I can live in different places around the globe and learn from different people so I’m very excited and grateful to get a preview of what that might looks like with this internship.

A little about me:

I was born and raised in Brasilia, Brazil and I moved to Pittsburgh after I graduated high school in my hometown. My parents have always loved to travel and have lived abroad before. I grew up listening to stories about their trips and I knew that I wanted to do the same – travel as much as I could and learn as much as I could from different places and cultures around the world. Because of that, even before I came to Pitt, I always intended to study abroad in as many other places as possible. Studying in the US has been a great experience and it showed me how much we can learn from other cultures so when I learned about International Internship Program and the opportunity to go abroad and get an internship in a different country, I knew right away I had to find a way to go. Adapting to a new culture, even if for only weeks can be challenging so when choosing my program location, I took into consideration the work and lifestyle culture and the language. Although I enjoy learning new languages, I don’t yet feel confident to do a full internship in a third language, so I prioritized one that had English as a first language. In addition to that, when researching the locations, I was drawn to what I heard and researched about the Irish hospitality, work life balance and beautiful country. In addition to that, one of my favorite singers -Hozier – is from Ireland and one of my favorite tv shows is also based in Ireland so it will be very cool to see Ireland in person, through my own eyes.