Hello, world! My name is Sophie Allen, and I’m a first year at Pitt in the School of Computing and Information intent on double majoring in Information Science and Digital Narrative and Interactive Design (DNID) from Sammamish, Washington. On campus, I’m a Pitt Pathfinder, and I’m also involved in clubs and organizations such as the Minority Association in Computing (MAC), the Computer Science Club, and the technical fraternity Kappa Theta Pi! Outside of this, I’m a big music buff (I listen to all genres, including K-Pop; all my titles may or may not be references) and I play the bass.
This summer, I have the incredible opportunity to travel to South Korea through this Plus3 program. I’m very excited; I’ve been abroad many times in the past (including to Korea!), but this is new territory for me. I chose the program due to not just the location, but because I don’t know a whole lot about smart systems–getting to learn more about them, and abroad? That sounded absolutely amazing, for me!
As I discover more about myself professionally, I’ve realized I’m interested in exploring how those outside of the U.S. interact with technology and how they go about building it–so, getting to see the various smart systems and how they’re implemented and used in Korea will be an interesting opportunity! I believe that gaining a better understanding of how things are implemented, built, and used abroad is important experience to gain, especially as I would love to work in a position that allows me to get to meet new people. Having an understanding of how things differ is extremely important to me both personally and professionally.
I’ve always been very passionate about studying abroad in Korea at some point in my life–it’s been a goal of mine, you could say, since I was younger. Admittedly, I really just wanted to visit the country; and while I’ve been able to see it, I always felt like I was missing out on something. Now that I have the opportunity to go back and further my learning academically at the same time, I’m not only fulfilling that past dream of mine, but I’m getting to explore the country even deeper than I had before. I’m most excited for the company site visits, but I’ll also be happy getting to eat the food… and maybe for getting to pick up some makeup refills, haha.
May can’t come any faster, and I can’t wait to see what comes!