Hey folks, my name is Brendan Marani, and this summer I’m going to the country of Vietnam. I was originally born in Tennessee, but after moving when I was very little, I spent almost all of my life in the town of Landenberg, in Pennsylvania. It’s about an hour south of Philadelphia, and is right next to the Delaware and Maryland borders. I have come to the University of Pittsburgh to study at the Swanson School of Engineering. My intended major was a bit of a confusion at first, deciding between doing chemical or mechanical Engineering, but I finally settled on the obvious choice between the two, Computer Engineering.

In my career at the University of Pittsburgh, I want to take advantage of all possible opportunities I could to further my knowledge and experience. One facets of the life I want to have is to have a better understanding of the entire world. This is what drew me to the Plus 3 Program. As for why I chose Vietnam, I have never been to the far East of the world. My family loves to go on trips across Europe and North America. I’ve been to places like Ireland, Italy, France, Spain and Turkey. During my time abroad, I’ve embraced and understood a lot about Western culture and its practices. Meanwhile I have little experience with Asian culture. Later in life I may have to deal with a variety of clients from a variety of places. I want to be able to be respectful and understanding of where everyone has come from and understands each place’s traditions.

When I go to Vietnam, I want to explore not only the business and engineering side, but I want to take a deeper look into the country of Vietnam, its cultures, traditions and the systems it works under. I know that the two weeks I spend across the world will be an eye opener for me and I can’t wait to embrace it. Follow me on my adventure through one of the world’s most interesting countries as I post about what I have done!

• Brendan Marani