Hello! My name is Isabella Lin, and I grew up in the North Hills area just outside of Pittsburgh. I am the oldest of three sisters and enjoy playing pop songs on the piano in my free time. With my grandparents heavily involved in the opera space and my mom an avid harpist, music is a central pillar of my life and has heavily trained my qualities of listening/communication, performance, competition, and balance for as long as I can remember. These are qualities I am excited to bring to the Haller Fellowship over the next few weeks. Throughout my high school years, I very much enjoyed classes that focused on the world as a whole, ie. Comparative Politics and International Business. Government and history classes have always held a special place in my heart, which definitely provokes my excitement for this unique business opportunity abroad. Fortunately, I have traveled outside of the United States to incredible countries including Spain, Japan, Italy, Costa Rica, England, and more. With each trip, I grow my perspective beyond the micro-bubble of the North Hills. I find myself asking questions about economic disparity, lifestyle, and community dynamics. To that end, I am very excited to renew that curiosity in the various regions of Northern Ireland/Ireland. In the group setting, I tend to take on a leadership role (can be attributed to oldest daughter tendencies!) but I cannot wait to collaborate with this team. I look forward to utilizing my skills of conversation, public speaking, and problem solving within the group dynamic.
Upon first learning of the Haller Fellowship, I was immediately drawn to its unique characteristics, such as 1) its availability to first year students, 2) accelerated course credits, and 3) close-knit group of only ten students. As someone ready to hit the ground running in the business community, I knew this was a great way to meet professors/peers, receive guidance, and enter my first academic year at Pitt with an amazing head start. I feel strongly that this fellowship will help me in the transition between classroom and career. With little prior experience within Finance, I would also like to “feel out” my aptitude for the field, in a sense. There may be strengths and weaknesses I have not recognized yet. In less than 24 hours, I have already begun to understand new facets of myself as a professional, such as my enjoyment of client conversations and new relationships. I am very excited for everything to come!