Hi everyone! My name is Alexis Schoonover and I am from Allentown, PA! I am currently a freshman in the Swanson School of Engineering and I am planning to major in chemical engineering. I am apart of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers or AIChE club section here at Pitt and hope to get more involved in next year. I am also currently involved in the Society of Women Engineers section here at Pitt. For the 2024-2025 school year I will be one of their officers as the fundraising chair. I am excited to see what opportunities that role will open up for me in the future!

Professionally, I am planning to do a Co-op during either my sophomore or junior year. This will set my graduation back by a semester, but I think that experience will be very beneficial for me both professionally and academically. My goal academically is currently to graduate with a 3.5 GPA or higher. After graduation, I plan to work for a few years with my chemical engineering degree in pharmaceuticals. I plan to go back to school and get either my Law Degree and focus on corporate law at a pharmaceutical company, or my MBA.

When I am not focusing on school, I enjoy spending time with my friends and exploring Pittsburgh. I also enjoy traveling and going on different trips with my parents. I have been abroad 3 times before, twice to the Bahamas and once for a cruise to Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and St. Martin. I am very excited to experience all that Cyprus has to offer!

Plus3 Cyprus:

I am very excited to go on this trip! I chose this particular program because it will allow me to expand my experience with different cultures throughout the world. This program will also be a valuable learning experience when it comes to working in the real world as it will expose me to problems and issues that foreign cultures are faced with and how they go about solving these situations. This program is mainly focused on supply chain which will allow me to test my problem solving skills. Furthermore, this program also allows me to experience a study abroad opportunity since it is difficult to do a full semester abroad as a chemical engineering major.

For Plus3 Cyprus, I personally hope to meet a lot of different people and make lots of friends. I also hope that this experience allows me to learn more about traveling abroad because I hope to do it again soon!

What I have learned thus far in Predeparture Classes:

• Basics of the supply chain and how each part is interconnected and much more complicated than the three step model of producer/supplier> distributor > consumer.
• Safety precautions to be aware of when traveling abroad.
• Cyprus has a very formal business environment and really value their relationships with business partners.