Looking back on the entire trip, I find myself returning to moments throughout our time in Germany. We were able to participate in so many great experiences. I was most impacted by our time at Dachau, Audi headquarters, and Werfen, Austria. I find it funny that these moments are the most memorable since they are…
Day 14: The Final Ibis Breakfast
I woke up full of mixed emotions. I was tired after ten busy days but I was so grateful for the experiences I had while in Germany. It felt like the past two weeks flew by! Carly and I packed up the rest of our things and went to have our last hotel breakfast (I…
Day 13: The Hills Are Alive
The second I found out I was going to Germany I started researching fun places to go while we were there! As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I had the opportunity to go on this trip with my roommate from Pitt, Carly. We spent so much time checking out places to go and seeing…
Final Reflection of Korea
Going to Korea has genuinely been a such an insane experience for the last two weeks and having to fit this trip in now right after getting out of finally really made it just so much more surreal. I don’t think that I truly mentally prepared myself for this trip until just a few days…
Day 11: Inside Audi
Going into our visit with AUDI I was ready to compare this headquarters to BMW’s. BMW and Audi are fierce competitors and often face similar pressures in the industry. We heard what BMW had to say, and I was interested to see if there were differences at Audi. One of the main factors I noticed…
Regardless of where you go, the people really do make the place
Ever since I got home from Germany, gratitude for this entire experience has consumed me. I went into the trip with zero expectations. I was honestly quite nervous about travelling abroad without my family and with so many people I barely knew. Every time someone from previous Plus3 trips told me I was going to…
Day 10: Innovation and Adaptation
Our trip to Aumovio and Regansburg had great themes of high technology alongside modern history. Aumovio was my team’s industry for the final presentation, so I was excited to see the factory! Before the visit, I was imagining a futuristic headquarters with a busy atmosphere as that is what the AUMOVIO brand gives off on…
Day 9: Exploring Nuremberg!
I opened my eyes at 5:00am, a little early right? This early wake up was definitely worth it to see Nuremberg. After learning more about MAN for our site visit, we made our way to the main square of Nuremberg. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this city! The architecture of the buildings…
Reflecting The Best Experience of My Life
Now that the dust has settled a bit, I truly took the time to reflect on this amazing experience. The experience I keep returning to most is our visit to Dachau. Throughout the trip, we toured world-class companies, historic cities, and cultural landmarks, but standing in a place where so much human suffering occurred had…
Day 15: The Journey Home
Waking up this morning, I was filled with many emotions. For one, I was very exhausted and excited to go home, but on the other hand, I was very sad to leave because I had such a great time here. I learned so much not just about Germany, but about myself individually. It was great…
Day 14: Free Day in Munich!
After a very taxing, but phenomenal 2 weeks, we made it to the last day, and I was very grateful to have a free day to ourselves to explore whatever we pleased. While we all previously planned a day in Salzburg, Austria, me and 2 other guys in the group loved our day in Munich,…
Day 14: A very sad goodbye to Plus3 Germany
Typically by the end of a long trip I feel ready to go home to get a good nights sleep in my own bed and have a homecooked meal . For the first time in a long time, I was dreading flying home and leaving Germany. I think what made it so hard was the…
Day 13: Presentation Day!
Presentation day, probably not everyone’s favorite day of the trip, but a great chance for us to showcase everything we have learned the past 2 weeks. All in all, other than our presentations, there was nothing else on our itinerary, so I was able to sleep in a little bit and get my head right…
Day 12: Saving The Best For Last
We made it, our last company visit, and frankly I can’t believe we are almost done with the trip. These days have flown by, but time does fly when you’re having fun. Audi is a household name in the automotive industry, and I was so excited for it. When we got to the factory, there…
Day 11: Inside Aumovio and The Future of Automotive Technology
This visit felt special in a way because we had seen all the ways in which you make a car, and this visit completed it. Aumovio focuses more on the brains and electronics inside modern vehicles, rather than building entire cars. These systems and software sit inside modern vehicles, parts that you don’t immediately see,…
Day 10: Built to Move: Inside MAN Truck & Bus
This was our first company visit since KUKA on Wednesday, so I was excited to get back into things. This visit is quite interesting compared to the BMW and KUKA because MAN deals with mainly trucks and buses. We made our way to the facility and had a guest talk with one of the workers…
Day 13: Saved the best for last!
For our free day, most of our group decided to go to Salzburg, Austria! I learned this is where the Sound of Music was filmed, and students from prior Plus3 trips recommended Salzburg as an easily accessible place to day trip to! We took the train from Augsburg to Munich around 8am, and then transferred…
Day 9: The First Ever Nazi Concentration Camp
You’ve watched the movies, the documentaries, read the books, but until you are really there, you don’t realize the effect the Hitler and his Nazi regime had on the millions of people whose lives were forever changed by persecution, suffering, and loss. When you enter the camp, you walk through a metal gate, and it…
Day 8: The Best City in Germany
After another good night’s sleep, I feel very energized and caught up on some much needed rest from the past week. Today was another day on the itinerary I was really looking forward to, our day trip to Munich, one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. We departed to Munich by train at around…
Day 7: Insights from Bloomberg
After 4 straight jam packed days, we had a very light day planned for today which included lunch at the canteen and a guest talk from an employee at Bloomberg talking more about European automakers in 2026. We didn’t need to be at the University until 1:30, so I took that time to catch up…