About Me
Hello everybody, my name is Patrick Ciccarelli and I am a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh. I am in the Swanson School of Engineering and majoring in bioengineering. I chose this major because I believe it is the best way to use my love of biology for a widespread positive impact on society. I am from West Chester, PA, which is about 40 minutes outside of Philadelphia. I have two older brothers who both graduated from Clemson University, and I have a dog named Henny. In my free time at home, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I like to spend time outdoors skiing, hiking, and going to the beach. I also love to travel I have been hiking in several national parks, including Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone. I have also traveled overseas twice. One time was with my high school to several European countries, and another time was to visit my brother in Italy while he was studying abroad.
Plus 3 Location: The Netherlands
I can’t wait to go to the Netherlands through Pitt’s Plus 3 program this May. I chose the Plus 3 program because I think that international travel is the best way to get an understanding of other cultures and learn from different perspectives, especially on engineering challenges. I hope that this experience will be the first of many opportunities to do so at Pitt and beyond. I specifically wanted to go to the Netherlands because of the program’s emphasis on sustainability. I hope to learn about sustainability in engineering and business from a different culture, especially the Dutch one because of their success with sustainability. I am also interested in learning about how businesses operate in other countries. I think it will be fascinating to visit Dutch companies and see how operations differ from those in the U.S. Additionally, I have heard that Dutch people are some of the most accepting and tolerant in the world, so I look forward to seeing how they deal with foreigners. Lastly, I am excited to see what day to day life looks like Amsterdam just to see how it differs from the U.S.