Panther programs are designed by our Global Experiences Office staff along with faculty, composed primarily of Pitt students, and are typically led by someone from Pitt.
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Practicing Italian in Florence
Isabella Spena, Global Business Institute: Florence Fall 2024 One of my main goals in coming here to Italy was to learn what it means to be an authentic Italian and reconnect with my roots. However, whether it’s my internship or in general, the thing that makes it hard to assimilate here in Italy is that…
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Living like a Local in Florence
Giuliana Romeo, Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability: Florence Summer 2023 For my program, all the students were placed in apartments throughout the city of Florence. My four roommates and I lived in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Florence, only three blocks from the main tourist site — the Duomo. All of my roommates…
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A Typical Day to Day in Florence
Giuliana Romeo, Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability: Florence Summer 2023 A typical weekday always started with one thing — a cappuccino! My roommates and I all intended to eat our breakfasts at home to save money, but we were surprised to find how affordable dining out in Italy could be. Breakfast was incredibly…
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An American in Florence
Giuliana Romeo, Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability: Florence Summer 2023 I imagined being an “American” in Florence would be a lot more daunting than it turned out to be. Florence is a city that sees thousands of tourists a year, so the locals are very used to interacting with people from all over…
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How Studying Abroad Altered my Perspective
Ava Hartman, Business, Technology, and Engineering: The German Way Summer 2024 Studying abroad has significantly impacted my personal perspectives on my academics and my career. I experienced a lot of personal growth after only spending two weeks in Munich. Specifically, I feel that my confidence and level of independence have grown significantly. In terms of…
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Getting to Know Germany
Ava Hartman, Business, Technology, and Engineering: The German Way Summer 2024 On this program, “Engineering the German Way”, we had the opportunity to interact with many German students. We did a project in teams with some of the German students that we shared a class with, and we were given the opportunity to spend time…
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Academics in Germany
Ava Hartman, Business, Technology, and Engineering: The Germany Way Summer 2024 During our two weeks at HM Munich, we attended multiple lectures mostly concerning topics associated with my major, industrial engineering. One of the most interesting aspects of this trip was having the opportunity to observe my major being taught with the values of a…
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Academics in Florence
Stephen Vandrak, Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability: Florence Summer 2023 The classes I am enrolled in differ widely from anything I have experienced at Pitt. To start, the courses, engineering history and art history, are much different from what I have taken at Pitt. In engineering school, there are not many opportunities to…
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Overcoming Lost Luggage
Stephen Vandrak, Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability: Florence Summer 2023 The biggest challenge I faced during this program was having to live in a new city without my luggage. When I arrived in the Florence airport, I was told that my luggage had not made it from the US. I had my laptop…
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What I Wish I Knew Before Traveling to Florence
Stephen Vandrak, Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability: Florence Summer 2023 Because this program started the week after the semester, I did not have a lot of time to prepare for this trip. I spent most of the time I had packing and getting my credit card and documents ready, but I didn’t spend…