Hey everyone, my name is Drew White! I’m just finishing my freshman year here at Pitt, which was absolutely amazing and hopefully just an indicator of much better times to come. Though Pittsburgh has quickly become a second home, my original one still resides in Kempton, an extremely small town in eastern PA outside of Allentown (you heard that right—someone who isn’t from ‘outside’ of Philly). Now, when I tell people that I’m from the middle of nowhere, a lot of them find it hard to understand just how serious I am. Yes, my house is pretty much surrounded by farms. Yes, I have cows as neighbors and getting stuck behind a tractor is a perfectly acceptable excuse for being late. My high school was in fact nicknamed Corncob High (with affection), we did have an annual “drive your tractor to school day” at the end of each school year, and yes, at the community fair each summer, there really is something called the Cow Flop, where you can place bets on which 1×1 square a cow will poop in. Despite all of this, I still made it out alive and I would even go as far as to say I miss it sometimes.

Okay, now time to actually say a bit about myself. Interest-wise, I love being outdoors—especially fishing (which I’ve been doing with my dad since forever), hiking, and kayaking (I’ve been learning how to paddle whitewater so that’s cool). Up until last year, I played baseball. I was a pitcher for my high school team, the Northwestern Tigers, which won our district championship last year and made it all the way to state semi-finals (okay I’ll stop flexing now). Since coming to Pitt, however, I’ve traded my glove in for a broomstick and joined the club quidditch team. A brief explanation for all the muggles out there: quidditch is a sport that was originally created by J.K. Rowling for her Harry Potter series and then adapted for real life by some college students. It is a co-ed, full-contact, fast-paced, highly competitive sport played world-wide.

Academically, here at Pitt, I am intending to dual major in supply chain management and business information systems (the two longest, but I’m getting better at typing them by now) with a certificate in data analytics. I am currently the business manager of the Supply Chain Management Club and also a member of LEAP (League of Emerging Analytics Professionals). Career-wise, I don’t have too much of a plan yet given how I don’t really know too much about supply chain, but the more I learn about it, the more I feel like I made the right choice. I’m really excited for the next few years at Pitt as my academic and professional careers continue to develop.

As if making the adjustment from Kempton to Pittsburgh wasn’t enough, I have chosen to spend two of first three weeks of summer in China of all places. I’ve been thinking about going on a Plus3 trip since literally the first time I heard about it at one of my first visits to Pitt Business. I knew that if I could make it work, there was no way I could let an opportunity to study abroad after my first year in college pass me by. I know this isn’t exactly a rare characteristic, but I really do love to travel. My trips to Italy, Switzerland, Panama, and the Dominican Republic were all incredible and taught me how important it is to be able to put yourself into unfamiliar situations. This influenced my thinking when I was applying to Plus3. Originally, I thought about Costa Rica (the coffee and banana industries in the Costa Rican rainforest? Um yes please), but I wanted to push myself even further. I could probably go to Costa Rica on vacation, but would I ever go to Asian by myself? Probably not. The Far East is so unfamiliar to me that even just two-weeks away, I really can’t anticipate what exactly I’m getting myself into. This may be what I’m most excited for. I know about the main focal points of the culture and some of the history, but it will be incredibly interesting to see what everyday life is like there—the stuff you don’t really hear about and don’t know until you actually experience it. I think this is true with any trip; the small things about a place are what really make it special.

Of course, what really makes China worth it for me academically and professionally is the program theme of smart phones—which, I was excited to hear, focuses a lot on the supply chain aspect of the industry—along with the fact that China is one of the most important economies in the world, one that I will most certainly have to interact with on a regular basis in my future career. That is why this trip is so invaluable to me and why I am committed to getting more out of it than just a vacation. I have a chance to gain some first-hand understanding of the workings of the Chinese market, which would give me a leg up on almost all of my peers.

I really can’t say what I’m looking forward to about this trip the most or even if I’m prepared for it (I probably am not), but with two weeks until departure, I can’t be more excited. I can’t wait to explore the beautiful and unknown country with my group. I’m sure I’m going to make friendships and memories that will last for a long time. So stay tuned for what I’m sure will be an interesting trip to say the least (I really don’t know what to expect with guys like John and Dave so I’m just hoping we don’t end up in any REALLY bad situations).