Today we visited the Irish Design Center, which is owned and operated by Tom Petrone and Maura Krushinski. Tom gave us a wonderful tour of the store, including his produce, jewelry, and clothing sections. He also spoke to us about the many events hosted by the store, and his own experience in Ireland, not only…

Today, we took a tour of the Hill District with the illustrious Terri Baltimore. She led us through a small part of the neighborhood, but still gave insight into the deep history of success and failure within their community. From what she described, oftentimes the hardest failures came from people who focused their efforts on…

Today we took a trip down to Fayette County, a little less than an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh. We spent our time in the town of Connellsville and heard about the work the Fayette County Cultural Trust does toward economic development in the community. Their most successful project has been building the…

Today, my team and I were assigned a “Neighborhood Scramble,” where we traveled to Shadyside and had to provide a summary of the neighborhood’s “main street” (Walnut Street) using four lenses: businesses, civic assets, community organizations, and public resources. Among these four, it was easiest to spot businesses. Many new stores have recently opened in…

On Saturday, July 18th, we visited the Maxo Vanka murals in Millvale. We were given roughly an hour tour of the murals that currently reside in the St. Nicholas Croatian Church. The murals were painted by Maxo Vanka in 1937 and 1941. There were seemingly two separate stories told, one of ordinary Christian origin (key…

Today we had our first meeting with Erin McLaughlin the Ireland Site Director for All People Be Happy!! The biggest thing I prepared for our first meeting was a set of questions regarding Carrigart and the way their local government is involved in daily life and hope for growth. Along with other questions from other…

Today we met with the Assistant Dean of the Fredricks Honor College, Dr. David Hornyak, who wonderfully explained the many resources that the Honors College has to offer to students!! One aspect of the session that really piqued my interest was the topic of the Bachelor of Philosophy!! It is designed to reward students who…

My first impression of the University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh itself is simply “big”. While I live somewhat close to the city, I have almost never fully spent a day exploring the city or its people. This program has allowed me a deeper look into Pitt and Pittsburgh, and one that has truly shown the…

Hi everyone!! My name is Sarah Arnold, and I am starting my story with the Haller Global Scholar Fellowship!! I am very thankful to say that I have had the most transformative 24 hours of my life and am prepared for 3 more weeks of growth!! I come from a somewhat small town about 40…