Today’s speaker, Ellie, gave a really interesting presentation about innovation. She specifically talked alot about innovation and how the pandemic has played a major role in it. When she spoke about COVID-19, it made me think of innovation in all of our lives. Due to the pandemic, we have overall become a much cleaner society. Things I would have never even thought about like sanitizing my grocery cart before using it, wearing a mask on a plane, etc. These are things that we never did pre-pandemic, but realized that it is a smart and probably the clean thing to do anyway. Personally, I think I will always wear a mask on a plan because being sick on vacation is the worst. I also believe that another example of innovation would be how you think. Over time, your thoughts and opinions on certain topics may change due to gaining life experience. For example, before going to college, I did not understand much about student loans, budgeting, etc. but now after being in college for 2 years, I understand the importance of money and managing it. Obviously, COVID changed alot of things, but it added alot of innovation to society. For example, using apps to easily order groceries or food from curbside pickup has been very convenient for many. I rarely ever choose to get my takeout in the restaurant and I always go for the curbside pick-up option. As I mentioned in my last blog post, there are benefits and cons when it comes to using online platforms. I do think that convenience is a major benefit. For example, I had a job interview recently and if it were in person, I would’ve had to drive to downtown Pittbsurgh and miss one of my classes, which is not the biggest deal, but just getting onto a ZOOM was much more easy and convenient for me and I was able to make my class. Sadly, this study abroad program is coming to an end, even though I get to stay an extra day… but I learned many things through this program. I learned how to balance a schedule between classes, site visits, assignments, group work, and exploring the city. Obviously,  exploring a new city was one of the priorities higher on my list, but at the end of the day, this is a school program meaning that getting my work done was also very important. I also just learned so much about a culture that I really had no idea about prior. Overall, this program has been such a great experience and I would recommend this to anyone!