I cannot begin to express how much the opportunity to go on the Plus3 South Korea program has benefited me as a student and as a future professional engineer. I never expected to end my freshman year of college learning abroad, and I cannot imagine a better opportunity for first-year students to explore engineering on…
Tag: John Malone
Plus3 South Korea 12: A New Era of Transportation and The End of a Journey
Today was our final day in Korea, which, for a lot of reasons, was super sad, not only because the trip has been such a fun and meaningful experience, but also because I will likely not see some of the friends I made on this trip for a few months. Though, despite it being our…
Plus3 South Korea 11: SMART Factories
Today was the second-to-last day of our trip. We woke up in Pohang, packed our rooms, hopped on a charter bus, and headed to Ulsan, where we would get a tour of the Hyundai plant later in the day. Over the course of the two-hour trip, we got to see a lot more of Korea’s…
Plus3 South Korea 10: Another Steel City?
On Tuesday, we went back to tour more of their campus, which is extremely large, about three times the size of the Pitt campus, while only having one-tenth of its student population. This is honestly very nice; it makes the campus feel spacious and gives each student ample space. The tour, as a whole, definitely…
Plus3 South Korea 09: POSTECH and Particle accelerators
On Monday, we arrived in Pohang, a coastal city at the bottom right of the Korean peninsula. We were here to visit POSTECH, a university that just joined Global E3 and a school with which Pitt is trying to develop a stronger relationship. POSTECH stands for Pohang University of Science and Technology, and it is…
Plus3 South Korea 07-08: Golgulsa Temple Stay
On Saturday, we boarded a KTX bullet train from Seoul Station to Gyeongju. While we were at the station, we got Dunkin’ Wonders, a Dunkin’ Donuts collab restaurant in Korea, which is surprisingly a lot different from the US, with an almost completely different menu featuring some very unusual flavors, so trying them was fun….
Plus3 South Korea 06: View into North Korea
Today was an early start; we woke up and left at 9 am to catch our charter bus out of Seoul and to the edge of the country, to one of the only DMZ areas in the world. After about a two-hour drive, we arrived at Imjingak Nuri Peace Park, a place that represents hope…
Plus3 South Korea 05: SIM
Today, though relatively short compared to some of our days filled with activities from 9 am until 7 pm, was equally interesting. We started by exploring more of South Korea’s heritage through Joseon-era structures. First, we rode a charter bus to Suwon Fortress, a fortress in the same style as the other Joseon temples we…
Plus3 South Korea 04: Arisu
Today we traveled to Seoul City Hall, a very modern, fully glass-walled building that is home to city offices and a variety of spaces for citizens. Architecturally, it is striking, as it has a very distinctive shape, with the building curving outward and upward near the roof. It also creates a sort of juxtaposition between…
Plus3 South Korea 03: Exploring Seoul
Today began at 10:30 am with a surprise: we were tasked with finding our program leader, Dr. Yun, using a set of clues and what we had learned about using Seoul’s public transportation the day before. By walking, taking the occasional wrong turn, catching buses, and using the subway, we made our way to Jogyesa,…
Plus3 South Korea 02: Gyeongbokgung Palace
Today, we arrived at the ICN airport at 4:00 am and drove into Seoul. Most of us were pretty tired after just coming off our 16-hour flight from Atlanta, but we were all very excited for what was to come as we began to see the natural and architectural beauty of Korea on our drive…
Plus3 South Korea 01: Departure Day
This morning was such a great feeling, putting all the stress of my finals leading up to this behind me and preparing to embark on South Korea, something that all of us have been looking forward to since we found out early this January. Though it was a bit hectic to move out and pack…
Plus3 South Korea 00: Me Before Seoul
Hello! I am John Malone, a rising sophomore and the leader of Group B on Plus3: South Korea. I am part of the Frederick Honors College and the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and I am so grateful to continue living and learning here….