Hello, everyone! My name is Nikhil Karthikeyan and I am a freshman in the Swanson School of Engineering with an intended major in Mechanical Engineering. I grew up in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, specifically in a small town known as Winchester. I have wanted to study engineering ever since I was younger as I always loved to build things growing up. I also have had a continued love for sports since I was a child. In high school, I played volleyball and I now play pick up soccer for fun on weekends. I also work at the student radio station, WPTS radio, in the sports department where I am on a weekly talk show and announce basketball and football games. For the last 3 years, I also worked as a math tutor at the Russian School of Mathematics and volunteered at my local television station in the sports department.

I am heading to Cyprus this May as a part of the Pitt Plus3 Program. I chose this program as I love travelling and have dreamed of studying abroad in college. To me, this is a good starting point for the future if I plan to spend a semester abroad in the future. Another reason for this choice was that I have never been to Europe before and I believe that Cyprus is one of the most beautiful islands across Europe and the Mediterranean. From this program, I want an introduction to study abroad and I also want to learn what foreign industry is like, to broaden my perspective on what it means to be a part of the workforce in other parts of the world.