Hello! My name is Cale Stover. I love to workout, snowboard, wakeboard, and play soccer. I am a freshman studying in the college of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh. When I am not doing schoolwork, I am playing soccer for the Pitt Club Soccer team, I am a member of the American Marketing Association, and I am associated with a brand new organization named Corporate Connections at Pitt Business where I am the assistant director of marketing. I plan on majoring in Marketing with a certificate in Sports Management and Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
If someone told a year ago that I would be traveling to Ecuador this summer, I would not believe them. I am beyond excited to travel to South American and see the beauty of Ecuador through the Plus3 program. I chose to travel and study in Ecuador to not only study the supply chain of chocolate and flowers, but to also taste the different chocolate that Ecuadorians cherish so much because who doesn’t like chocolate? I am also excited to see the wildlife that inhabits Ecuador. Apparently, there are so many species of animals that many are still not discovered in the country!
Along with indulging in chocolate, this program will help me navigate the world without the security of my family. This will be the first time that I will leave the country without them. In addition, it will hopefully solidify my plan to pursue my passion in business as I learn how Ecuador has become a leader in the chocolate world. This experience will also teach me the culture of Ecuador as I interact with Ecuadorians and enhance my networking skills with the challenge of communicating in a completely different language than English. I studied Spanish for 4 years, therefore, I hope I can use what I learned to properly communicate and enhance those skills.
One reason that I chose to pursue Business is my passion to give back and do all I can to help solve real-world problems including: pollution, homelessness, climate change, world hunger, etc. This program is allowing me to visit another country with the possibility of viewing some of these problems. It will allow me to see how other countries are effected by these problems and it will hopefully give me insight on how I might be able to help in the fight to solve these real-world problems in the near future.
I cannot be more excited for this awesome opportunity and I am counting down the days to when I finally get to experience the beautiful country of Ecuador!
Cale