The Pitt plus three trip to Germany was an amazing experience and I am grateful to have taken part in it.  This trip was a great opportunity to meet new people, learn more about a different culture as well as enhance my knowledge of the automotive industry.  Because the trip was only two weeks long, it was easy to do without investing too much time or money.  It was very well put together.  The class started with a few group meetings back in Pittsburgh where we were able to make a few friends and learn a little bit about the German culture before we went there.  This part of the class, even though it was brief, was helpful in making me feel a little more comfortable in going to Germany by letting me get to know my classmates better so that I didn’t feel like I didn’t know anybody while I was away.

              While in Germany there were two major components to the trip.  There was an educational portion to the class as well as a cultural portion.  The educational portion mostly consisted of the company visits and our final presentations. This was very interesting because we got a behind the scenes look at how a large portion of the automotive supply chain works.  This is an experience that few people get to have and I have learned a lot about a field, that as a mechanical engineer, I may end up working in.  The cultural portion of the class consisted of many outside visits to important places in Bavaria.  On this visits I learned a lot about the history of Germany as well as how it is still impacting the Germans today.  I also learned a lot culturally from being partnered with the University of Augsburg on this trip.  This partnership gave us the opportunity to easily meet people our age and have a chance to connect with them in the two short weeks we were there. 

              This trip was my first trip to Europe and my first study abroad experience.  Hopefully in my future I will have many more chances to do things like this.  I am extremely thankful for having the opportunity to participate in this trip.  I would like thank Dr. Feick and Brad Miner for all the time and effort they put into planning this trip for us. Auf Wiedersehen!