Hello everyone, my name is Evan Allen. I’m a freshman in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh looking to major in Environmental Engineering and minor in Spanish. As a Pittsburgh native I’ve lived in the neighborhood highland park (15 minutes from campus) my entire life where I’ve grown to love playing sports. I played both baseball and soccer for my high school and ping pong leisurely with my friends but baseball has been my favorite ever since I was little. Naturally, I am a Pirates fan but I also love the Blue Jays. Outside of sports I fill my free time hanging with friends, listening to music, cooking, working out, or watching movies/tv.
Professionally, I am not entirely sure yet what I want to do. With whatever career path I do choose, I want to be actively working towards improving the environment. While this goal does sound rather vanilla coming from an environmental engineer, it is the one thing I am certain about for my career. I could see myself following a more typical environmental engineering career working as a consultant for a company or for the EPA(Environmental Protection Agency). However, the field that interests me the most right now is renewable energy.
Unsurprisingly, I have also developed a passion for travel. Thus far, I the countries I have been to include Chile, the Bahamas, Portugal, and Sint Maarten, but I’m hoping to expand that list during my time at Pitt. When exploring the list of plus3 locations, Vietnam stood out to me for its rich culture and history. On top of that I found the program focus of exploring Vietnam’s post-war globalization and development to be extremely interesting. The aspect of the program focus that I’m most excited for are the company visits. I’m particularly excited to get exposure to the business side of Vietnam’s globalization. During my free time on the trip, I’m most looking forward to trying as much of the Vietnamese cuisine as possible. Overall, I’m excited to have a memorable experience and make new friends!