Today was different but awesome.  We got a chance to visit am art gallery owned by a Pitt alumni.  Now as cool as art galleries are on their own, what was significant about this one was that the building was built by transforming a preexisting Czech building with some pretty cool history.  The architect and the owner worked to actually use some of the components of the original building and incorporate them into the design of the new building!  It was amazing to learn about the process of designing and constructing the new building, and to learn that the owner and I share some roots in Pitt.

At the art gallery we actually had the gift of attending a Pitt alumni networking event and that was also a surreal experience.  I was able to make some cool connections that talked to me about studying at Pitt and then taking their talents to the Czech Republic.  After speaking to the alumni, I think that I would enjoy being an engineer in a foreign country.  One of the connections talked with me about how transferable my studies are, and that due to my technical background, I could easily adapt to any industry, even a foreign one.   That’s always the biggest question mark for me when it comes to considering opportunities abroad: will my talents fit in an unfamiliar market and environment.  I learned from the alumni that my technical degree teaches me foundational troubleshooting skills that will make it easier for me to adapt to a foreign industry. Additionally, although our languages and cultures might be a little different, often, our industries aren’t.