It is crazy to think that the experience I have been looking forward to for 3 years is finally coming to a close this week. The past four months have been unforgettable, and I am so incredibly grateful for the memories I made and the relationships I formed. The past semester, I traveled to 12 countries, and saw close to 25 cities, all while enjoying my time in Florence. I learned and developed so much personally, academically, and professionally, while developing important soft skills.
Personally, I learned how to become more adaptable and open to new experiences. When traveling in groups, it is common for things to not go to plan, and learning how to manage during stress is extremely important. Organization is also a skill that I somewhat lacked before this experience, but I grew the skill a lot by managing travel plans with classes.
Academically, I developed a deeper understanding on how international forces effect business. Through my international finance and marketing classes, we attended multiple site visits and spoke to business professionals who spoke about supply chains and marketing plans when entering into a new market. I also really enjoyed my oil painting class. which was extremely unexpected since I do not have any previous art experience. I am hoping to take another art class during my senior year at Pitt!
Professionally, I believe I learned how to be a better communicator and articulate my ideas. My international marketing class is extremely presentation based, which is a soft skill needed in the corporate world. I also have confirmation that I want to pursue some form of international work in my future.
Some key takeaways from this experience is to take everything one day at a time and appreciate the little things. At Pitt, it is easy to feel rushed and constantly under pressure with a heavy corse load and multiple jobs. Being in Europe, you learn how to take your time and become more appreciative. I plan to leverage this in my future career to accomplish a strong work life balance. Another takeaway that I realized is I hope to work internationally. I am going into consulting this summer, and I hope this will be a stepping stone to do international consulting with a large firm after graduation.
I am incredibly grateful for this experience, and it would not be possible without the support of my friends and family. I will miss this time, but I am excited to be back at Pitt!
