Hello!! My name is Olivia John and I am a current sophomore pursuing a Marketing Major and a Computer Science Minor. My main goal for my time here at PITT is to dip my foot into as many marketing branches as I can, so I can better my skills and broaden my scope of marketing. This semester, I worked with the Pittsburgh Innovation District as the Content Marketing Intern. With this role, I got to see firsthand what it was like to create content and manage numerous platforms for a nonprofit organization. This summer, I hope to find an internship/job that represents a different aspect of marketing. Since I am not sure exactly what road I want to go down post-grad, I am excited to see what more I can explore within the next two years at PITT!

Outside of class, I am involved in a couple different activities to help me maintain my desired school-life balance. I am a sister of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority where I will be taking over the role of VP Finance for the next school year. Along with that, I am a member of the Women’s Chorale Ensemble where I will be the Social Event Director for the coming school year. As you can see by my extracurricular activities, I make sure to be active in the things I enjoy and find fun, but I am committed to my growth and development as a student, as I love to get involved especially through leadership roles. 

I am participating in the PLUS3 Ireland Program, and I could not be more excited to embark on this journey with everyone! Specifically, I chose this program because it is quite literally perfect for me. It is the perfect place, perfect duration, and perfect program for me as a student who has never traveled alone before. Once I saw that there was a PLUS3 opportunity for sophomores, I knew I had to apply! Also, I am so thrilled to adventure in Ireland and be immersed in a culture I hope to learn a lot about. 

Personally, my number one priority is to really focus on my independence. Even though I consider myself an independent/responsible person, I realize that traveling abroad without my family could definitely pose some difficulties for me. With that, I am willing and excited to see how I combat those fears and focus on strengthening my weaknesses.

Academically, I think that any study abroad opportunity is beneficial (no matter how short the duration is) and anything I learn abroad will not be taken for granted. Being immersed in a foreign country with other students is a perfect opportunity for growth, and there will be so much to learn. I hope to gain more knowledge of Irish history/culture and become a more well-rounded global citizen. 

Professionally, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to network and connect with corporate executives. This will be such an amazing growth opportunity for me, as I feel that I am not the best at networking! With PLUS3, I hope that I will strengthen my ability to network and ask questions when I need to. 

Overall, I am thrilled to start this journey, and I am quite literally counting down the days!