Hello! My name is Devin Bluemling and I am a freshman in the College of Business Administration. Although I am currently undecided as to what major I would like to pursue, I would love to have the opportunity to work in the sports business field as I am currently the Executive Vice President of Pitt’s Sports Business Association. I grew up just 25 minutes outside of Pittsburgh in Wexford, PA and since I did not venture far from home for my collegiate experience, I am ecstatic to get to explore a whole new place in China!

Throughout my time growing up my travel was fairly limited to the east coast of the United States. However, I am eager to expand upon that with this upcoming trip to Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai. I choose Plus3 for numerous reasons. The first is that I believe that through Plus3 and the experiences provided I will be able to enrich not only my academic goals of furthering my knowledge by learning through different cultures and lenses, but also to enrich my career goals of becoming a well-rounded, diverse, and experienced leader who is able to navigate unfamiliar and complex situations. Plus3, with its’ unique design, will allow me to do just that by allowing for the opportunity to explore the globalization of business firsthand from companies such as Microsoft while also learning the importance of other cultures and customs along the way at great site visits such as The Great Wall and Temple of Heaven. Overall, I believe Plus3 has the ability to not only change my professional and academic development, but to change my perspective on the world as a whole!

I am excited to get to China so that I can explore a country that plays such a vital role in today’s global economy and foreign affairs! I can not wait to explore the various cultural differences between the average American citizen and the average Chinese citizen and to learn to appreciate and understand the differences and similarities that exist between them. Most of all, however, I am excited to visit some of the world’s greatest destinations like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City!

Watch out China! Here I come!