My name is Elijah Volk and I am a Finance major at the University of Pittsburgh. I am going to finish my freshman year in about two weeks. I hope to also double major in Business Information Systems (BIS), but I have not declared that yet. I still have some time to make that decision as I am still taking a lot of core business classes.

I live on campus in Bruce Hall which I enjoy a lot. I also like to go to the gym. I use this as a way to get away from classes and have a place to think about other things. On the weekends when I am not spending time with my friends here, I like to go home and see my family and my dog. I have a golden retriever and I miss him a lot sometimes.

I have chosen to go on the Pitt Global Experiences Plus 3 Program over the summer. I chose this program because I haven’t traveled very much before so I figured that two weeks would be a good start. I had originally been interested in the Germany section of the program, because both sides of my family are predominantly German. However, I got selected for the Netherlands section instead. After being excited about this, I then got the news that the trip would be shifting to Cyprus. As a country I had never heard of before, I was initially a little bit skeptical. However, once I researched the company a little bit more I found that it is a beautiful place.

In the end, I hope that this program can provide me with some unique experiences that I can share for the rest of my life. I have already had the opportunity to build up my skills in adaptability. So, I hope that I can also gain more experience in other aspects of my life with this trip. For example, I hope that I can become a better traveler.

Overall, I am extremely excited for this trip and I can’t wait for it to begin on May 6th.