My name is Adam Grossman and I am a rising senior at the University of Pittsburgh studying finance and economics. I’m from the suburbs of Philadelphia and I enjoy spending my free time working out, golfing, and traveling. I’ve always enjoyed learning about why people and businesses make the decisions they do which is a large part of what drew me to my major. I also enjoy being able to put myself in new environments, meeting different people, and gaining unique experiences to help me view things from different perspectives.
Academically, I’ve had the chance to dive deep into a large variety of finance and economics courses. A lot of my coursework has centered around understanding how markets and businesses behave, and the decision-making processes behind them. One course that particularly changed the way I think was Financial Markets and Institutions. It made me realize that financial systems in the U.S. are just one version of a much bigger global picture. There are many different economies, institutions, and ways of doing business operating across the world at the same time. This realization made me want to actually be able to experience it firsthand.
Professionally, I have gained experience across a few different areas over the past couple of years. As a Commercialization Intern at The Neutrino Donut, I worked on evaluating investment opportunities in emerging energy technologies and gained experience at how capital, policy, and innovation connect in the real world. On campus, I was involved in the Pittsburgh Management Consulting Club where I worked through case studies and built out my problem solving skills. Through my involvement in the Sigma Chi Fraternity, I took on leadership roles as Community Service Chair and IFC Chair, coordinating fundraisers and representing the chapter at a broader organizational level. All of these experiences have pushed me to want a bigger, more global view of how business operates.
I am participating in the International Internship Program in Prague. I chose this program because I wanted the opportunity to experience an unfamiliar environment combining both cultural and professional exposure in a meaningful way. Since I have never been to Europe, I was especially drawn to the chance to live and work in a city with a strong historical identity, while also being able to explore the development of modern finance and technology. Prague stood out to me as a place where I can step outside my comfort zone to experience a better understanding of global business and new unique perspectives.
Through this experience, I hope to become more independent and adaptable by putting myself in a new environment and learning how to navigate it on my own. I also want to better understand how what I’ve learned in the classroom connects to real business settings across different cultures, and get a more grounded view of how global business actually operates. On the professional side, I’m looking to strengthen my communication and problem solving skills while gaining exposure to different international practices that can help shape the direction I want to take my career.
