Hi! My name is Ben Sampson, and I am a freshman business student at the University of Pittsburgh. I am currently undeclared, but plan on majoring in Marketing, with a minor in Economics and a certificate in Sports Management. At Pitt, I am on the Club Soccer team and have been involved in other clubs like the American Marketing Association, and Sports Business Association. I graduated high school in 2021, and took a Gap Year. I spent the year traveling around the United States, and later Europe. It was a great experience, but now I am very happy to be at Pitt!

I was born just outside of Washington DC, but moved to when I was young. I grew up living in Charlotte, Vermont. Despite the fact that there is not much in VT, the landscape is beautiful and I loved growing up there. I spent much of my free time throughout my childhood playing soccer and skiing. And I also picked up tennis and golf in high school, although I was not particularly good at the latter. Lastly I love to travel, and was lucky enough to spend a lot of time doing that with my family growing up.

The Plus3 program I chose was the Netherlands, for a couple reasons. First, as previously mentioned, I have spent a considerable amount of time in Europe. I have grown to love their culture, and will take any chance I get to spend more time there. Furthermore, when I was in eighth grade I travelled to the Netherlands with my soccer team. We were only there for a week, but I loved every second of it, and have always wanted the opportunity to go back. From a professional standpoint, this program is a fantastic way for me to gain first hand experience in the business world. The professors at the Pitt Business school can teach me a lot, but learning from experience with actual organizations will teach me things that I could not learn in the classroom. Ultimately, this program will provide me the perfect combination of academic and cultural experiences.