A Wrap to Virtual Service Learning

Since my last post, our team has finished our deliverables, wrapped up our report, and gave our presentation, which leaves me with the last component of this course: writing this blog. My last blog post is when I had felt most of the struggles and confusion adapting to the sudden change of online classes, which…

Until Next Time

The semester is drawing to a close, and it will likely prove to be one of the most difficult times in modern history. For many, the first part of 2020 has been filled with uncertainty, frustration, and disappointment; as a Pitt student enrolled in the GSL Bolivia program, these are especially true. The uncertainty regarding…

Concluding an Online International Experience

As my sophomore year concludes, I reflect on the challenges we have faced on a worldwide scale but also how we continue to overcome these unprecedented situations. Although we were unable to physically complete the “global” in Global Service Learning, I can say with full confidence that our online adaptations fulfill the “service learning”. Over…

Looking back on great semester!

It’s easy to look back on this semester and be disappointed- and rightfully so. We lost half a semester of spending time with our peers on campus, we had to adjust to an online learning environment when we were expecting to learn in-person, and we really can’t even go outside anymore. However, in these uncertain…

Lessons Learned and Advice for Future Groups

Hi everyone! We have just about reached the end of this semester and it is certainly one most of us will never forget for the rest of our lives. Not only did it feel like it went on forever, but we were forced to overcome many challenges both as students and personally. Obviously, the main…

Tough Situations Build Strong People

As my last semester as a sophomore nears to an end, I have much to reflect upon. While I still allow myself to think about the experiences I missed out on, the ones I gained are more important. When I first started this program, the fear of the Bolivian presidential election was the only event…

Lessons From (almost) Global Service Learning

Going into this semester, I had no idea what was in store or how our service learning project would unfold. If you had told me in January that our trip to Bolivia would be cancelled, I would have said you were crazy. I wouldn’t have been able to imagine that the last few weeks of…

Farewell and Best Wishes to Future Groups!

As this semester comes to an end, I reflect on several things that happened which I could not have expected when I first came into the class. Initially, I thought that the Global Service Learning will proceed smoothly, that we would learn about Bolivian culture and work on a project, travel there, and then reflect…

Adapting to Change, from Work to Emotions

Approximately three weeks ago, all of the students in our Global Service Learning class were informed that our trip to Bolivia would be canceled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. A week later, we were informed by the University of Pittsburgh that the remainder of the semester would be conducted online. Within a few days, I…