Hello, my name is Nathaniel Reger, but I like to go by Nate, and I am a freshman here at the University of Pittsburgh studying business. I am unsure of exactly what I want to major in right now, but I am interested in analytics and human resources. I was adopted from South Korea and raised in West Grove, Pennsylvania, and I am super excited to have the opportunity to travel to South Korea through the Plus3 program! Outside of school, I am very interested in watching and playing sports, mainly basketball but also football, soccer, golf, etc. I am also a big fan of TV shows and movies as well as listening to music. I recently rewatched Avatar the Last Airbender, which is a childhood and personal favorite show of mine. During my fall semester at Pitt, I interviewed for and was accepted into the business organization Phi Beta Lambda, and have been actively involved in their various service, social, and professional development events since. I was also elected as their Vice President of Member Relations for the 2024-2025 school year, which I am looking forward to. I plan to continue expanding and joining more clubs and organizations in the fall of 2024 as well.

In May, I will be travelling to South Korea through the Plus3 program, which is a two week study abroad program open to business, engineering, and nursing students at the University of Pittsburgh. For South Korea specifically, we will be focusing on the smart systems there. While I have travelled abroad before, I have not travelled for academic reasons before, and am ready for the new experiences that I will face while I am there. I am interested in seeing the smart system companies that succeed in South Korea and how they came to be.

I felt for me that choosing South Korea just made the most sense. Having been adopted from there I have always been fascinated with the culture, food, and especially recently the businesses there. With some previous exposure to computer science and engineering as well, the smart systems in South Korea mend perfectly with my interests. I have had some exposure to Korean culture in my life, and have even travelled there once when I was younger with my family, but I feel that this opportunity will provide a new outlook on Korean lifestyle for me. Also as mentioned earlier now being a business student and a personal connection to the particular topic of smart systems, everything lined up perfectly for me with this program and location.

While I am there, I hope to accomplish many things. First and foremost, I hope to experience an amazing trip abroad and foster strong professional and social relationships with my peers and professors. I prioritize my relationships with people around me and feel that bonding with those that I will be with will enhance the trip and make it the most that it can be. I also hope to learn as much as I can about the smart systems while I am there. How they work, how companies became successful, and even how I can apply some of the concepts used in Korea to businesses back in the United States. Finally, I hope to expand my general knowledge of business and cultures, and I believe this trip is an excellent opportunity to do just that. I have a lot of expectations going into this trip that I know I can work through, and am very excited for it!