Hi! My name is Ariel Maroney, and I’m currently a freshman environmental engineering student at the University of Pittsburgh. I’m from Trumansburg New York, and I’ve lived my whole life before college in the Finger Lakes region. In my free time I enjoy reading, playing video games, and going to the gym. In high school I was very active in extracurricular activities, I was president of my class, president of NHS, a member of the student council, and involved in drama club productions. I love listening to music and going to concerts, my favorite artists, in no particular order, are Taylor Swift, Hozier, Noah Kahan, Beyoncé, and Lizzie McAlpine. I was able to go to the Era’s tour last summer, and this summer I’m attending both Noah Kahan and Hozier’s tours. I love travelling, and I’ve been on an educational tour of Costa Rica with some of my high school classmates, so I have some experience with group travel.

Plus 3 – Netherlands

I chose to do the Plus 3 program because I believe that getting travel experience is one of the most important things a person can do. I also plan on studying abroad at some point in college, so the Plus 3 program is a good way to ease into that. I really wanted to go to the Netherlands because of the focus that the Netherlands has on sustainability and environmental protection. As an environmental engineer, I find their long history with shaping their environment to fit their needs while also protecting it to be particularly fascinating. I hope to make a lot of friends on this trip while also learning more about how engineers work and industries are run in a different country.