Hello! I am Victoria Rivera-Quadreny, and I am a rising sophomore majoring in bioengineering at the PITT Swanson School of Engineering. I was born and raised in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (the city right next to San Juan)! Being from Puerto Rico, there is nothing I like more than going to the beach, hanging by the pool, and hanging out with my friends. I have one brother who is 2 years older than I am, and he is also studying engineering. I have two pets: there is my dog, Chocolat, who is a Havanese, and a calico cat named Susie.
On a more academic note, I have always found myself to be a very responsible person and always try to be on task. I am also a very helpful person and am always looking to make a new friend, so don’t hesitate to come up and talk to me! I have always been interested in STEM and have had a deep, hidden love for engineering, which I discovered pretty late in my high school career, but up till now, I am definitely loving it and am extremely excited to dive into my major and expand my knowledge.
This coming May, I will be attending the Plus 3 program in the Netherlands! I initially chose to apply for Plus 3 since, even as a little girl, I have always wanted to see the world and expand my horizons to visit as many countries as I can. Moreover, one of the main reasons I chose PITT was because of their study abroad program. Eventually, I want to take part in a semester abroad opportunity, but I am intimidated by the long time and being in a foreign country. Therefore, once I learned about Plus 3, I knew that this was something I wanted to do. I knew Plus 3 would give me the chance to get an insight into what studying abroad really is and help me expand my knowledge on the subject the program was about. Once I started doing more research on the program, I saw that the Netherlands’ subject was all about sustainability, a subject I am very fond of being from Puerto Rico. Ever since, this program has been one of the things I was most excited for nearing the end of the semester. Hence, I am extremely excited about this program and how it will help me broaden my mind to real-life problems with lack of sustainability, as well as helping me broaden my friend group and giving me the opportunity to grow as a person.