I’m now over halfway through the first week of the Haller Global Fellowship Program, and my time so far has been simply delightful. Not that there isn’t plenty of work to do, but there’s just as much fun to be had! Much of what we’re doing is also not only interesting mentally stimulating in a very satisfying way. A great example of this would be our group’s two meetings today: one with the Assistant Honors Dean of the esteemed Frederick Honors College, and another with Bryan Schultz, the director of the entire Global Experiences program of Pitt’s School of Business!

The morning meeting was with Dave Hornyak of the Frederick Honors College. To set the stage, the physical presence of the Honors College is almost hidden in plain sight: it doesn’t have a building all to itself. Instead, it’s housed at the very top of the Cathedral of Learning, always looking upon the city from its grand seat atop the pinnacle of the University’s buildings(see images below for the lovely views!). My only complaint is that going up thirty-five floors in a very fast elevator hurts my ears! At the meeting, Dave’s enthusiasm was infectious as he told us all about how to get the most out of one’s placement in the Honors College. As an Honors student myself, this was very engaging to hear about! I was especially interested in the capacity for Honors students to take graduate-level courses and complete research programs.

Next, we attended a lunch meeting with Bryan Schultz. Bryan told us about his own personal experiences studying abroad and how it shaped the entire course of his life. This meeting contained a huge amount of information, all pertaining to the School of Business’s many, MANY study abroad options. One of these offerings was the Plus3 Program, two weeks for three credits in a class specific to each available country, including Morocco, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Argentina, and Ecuador. I’m seriously considering doing one of these programs as well! However, what most stood out to me was one I hadn’t heard about before, and am similarly interested in: the “Realizing Regional Resilience: Appalachian Bridges to the Future” program. This program is centered around a three-day, two-night October stay in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where the group works with the community to expand the county economically and socially. After another day visit in November where the team presents their deliverables, the team goes on to present them to the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative in Washington, D.C.! While this program is obviously very inviting, I don’t know if I want to put myself down for it just yet. It’s very early in my first semester of college, after all!