Jack McGivern, Business Plus3 Germany, Summer 2026
I never thought of myself as someone who really wanted to see the world before I had my study abroad experience. I signed up for Plus3 because I thought it would be a really cool way to catch up on the credits I was behind on, and it would allow me to do something I could never really do otherwise. With that being said, I didn’t really have any expectations going into the trip; I was just excited to see some new things. But when I got to Germany and saw just how beautiful and different everything was, I knew I would never feel the same way about travelling again. Seeing as I was on a Plus3 trip, I had a very short amount of time to see a lot of things, and see a lot of things I did. Every day we went somewhere new and exciting. From Munich to Regensburg, we were all over Bavaria. I was able to see museums full of rich history, different ways of living, new foods I had never even heard of, and so much more. I was absolutely enamored by all of the things that Germany had to offer, and I knew my goals were going to change. While the focus of the trip being the automobile industry didn’t exactly spark any new career desires for me, the setting made me much more open to working abroad and travelling as much as possible. I always thought I was bound to stay in Pittsburgh, but now that I’ve seen how great it is to open my eyes to new cultures across the world, I’m curious to see what a similar culture is like in a different city here in the US. While I’m a lot more geo-flexible in my future career now that I’ve experienced studying abroad, I’m also more curious across the board. After coming home, I have been more open to doing things that I otherwise might not have tried, and I think that will push me to do more and more as I continue to live my life. My goals have gone from landing a cushy job in the city I was born in to just seeing as much as I can and doing as much as I can. Study abroad has oddly shaped my future in a way that has given it a lot less structure and a lot more desire to see it all and do it all to the best of my ability.
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