Ciao! My name is Ben Schneck and I am freshman in the Swanson School of Engineering. My chosen major within SSOE is that of Material Science and Engineering due to my love of chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Outside of school, I take part in clubs such as Panther Fly Fishing, Ski Club, Music Performance Club, and Pitt Outdoors Club. Although, due to the workload associated with school it can sometimes be difficult to attend meetings or go on weekend trips so I find myself staying active by going to the campus rock wall, running in Schenley park, or going to the Pete to lift. For as long as I can remember I have always loved to explore and challenge my comfort zones, which has naturally caused me to form a tight bond with traveling the world. From this obsession that dictates almost all aspects of my life and free time, it made choosing to apply for the Plus3 trip to Italy a must. Luckily with my acceptance, this immense opportunity will expand my horizons even further, opening me to the environment of professional work and daily life in Italy.

For further insight into who I am, I was born on May 3rd, 1999 here in Pittsburgh. In school at Mt. Lebanon, I always did well and was fairly carful about the grades I received and the material focused on in class. From this, it resulted in a fairly good academic performance and my induction into the national Cum Laude Society, which led me off to Pitt from the financial benefits I received. Pertaining to my family, I grew up with 3 older siblings, 2 sisters and 1 brother, making 6 with my parents; all of which went to the same schools I did. Not forgetting about pets, I have 6 dogs that live at different properties around Pittsburgh. Athletically, I grew up playing pretty much every sport out there for a young boy including ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, basketball, baseball, and tennis, but only carried ice hockey and lacrosse up into high school. My other passions outside of athletics growing up included art, in all mediums, and music of which I play the guitar, piano, and saxophone and have been doing so for roughly 13 years. Professionally, I have not had a lot of experience in the field due to my age, but am truly thankful for the ones I have experienced. The most significant of which was working for Delta airlines to assure their compartments aboard Boeing 747 and 777 planes met FDA regulation for the housing of food, which resulted in me traveling across America to inspect and work on planes in need of repair being I was one of 5 in the US that understood the market and regulations to that extent (the other 4 were my team on the job). As prior mentioned, traveling and seeing as much of the world as I can has always been a huge part of my life, making Italy a very important and exciting trip that will grow me as a person, student and professional. On a personal level, since I have already seen a large portion of Europe and the rest of the world through various trips, Italy will grow me personally by the fact that it isn’t a vacation with family or exchange trip with friends I have known for years, but students completely new to me. Also I was raised catholic so all of the religious relics and history in Italy will deepen my understanding of the roots of where my religion comes from. Additionally, attending mass in Italy will be a completely new experience. Academically, Italy itself will expand my knowledge and familiarity with intercultural relations and my understanding of Italian life and history. The lessons on supply chain management are also crucial lessons for anyone wishing to gain a deeper understanding of world markets, especially in fashion, which is something important to me with my intent to start my own business and deep passion for clothing, art and design. Professionally, this trip will thrust me into the rarely seen world of Italian business in the fashion and textile industries. This will formulate a trip were the knowledge gathered is extremely useful and applicable in professional settings, while also being completely new and untouched to me. In essence this trip to Italy stands as the pinnacle of growth for me on a personal level pertaining to religion and art, academic level pertaining to supply chain systems and the fashion industries, and professionally through the priceless knowledge on Italian business and professional life that can be applicable to any future job or profession I wish to explore.