Despite my budding excitement about traveling to Cyprus and navigating a foreign culture and environment, I was initially anxious about traveling with a new group of people internationally. However, I began to feel more at ease once I got to know everyone during the course of our travel. As we travelled together for over 18 hours, we “travel bonded” by seeing each other at our best and worst moments. I genuinely appreciated how kind and willing to interact everyone was because it made the entire process more enjoyable and memorable.

To start the day, most of the girls and I grabbed a combined breakfast of Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. This gave us an opportunity to get to know each other more personally in a casual setting.

Our journey officially began at 12 PM from the University of Pittsburgh with us traveling in a bus together to the Pittsburgh International Airport. From there, we traveled to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., and then to the Frankfurt Airport in Germany. In both places, we disembarked the plane on the tarmac, which was slightly disorienting. The most anxious part of the journey thus far has been keeping track of my passport, but at every step I took an extra second to make sure I had it.

Even though today was mainly a travel day, it gave me unique insight into what it truly means to be a global engineer. The process of getting to personally know everyone in a group of more than 20 students challenged me to interact and connect with people from different, diverse backgrounds. This experience made me realize how important it is for a global engineer to be able to assimilate in new environments and network with people spontaneously. Inspired by this revelation, at Cyprus, I am more motivated to directly interact with the locals and strike meaningful conversations with the company executives.