To be honest, Pittsburgh was not my first choice (or even my second) when I first applied for an exchange semester at my home university. I had never even heard of Pitt. After four months of studying abroad however, I can comfortably say that every minute was absolutely worth it.
Having previously not been to the US for more than two days, I was able to get to know a part of the country that I feel is rarely represented in the world. Thanks to Pitt’s urban campus and since I was living off-campus, I was able to see a lot of the city. I especially enjoyed the trips offered by the Pitt Outdoors Club on which I got to see the more rural parts of Pennsylvania and its beautiful state parks and met a lot of wonderful students from other departments.
But the classes were a highlight themselves. Every professor was very supportive and having graded homework throughout the semester and midterms as opposed to only one final exam in Germany meant that I was able to constantly assess my performance and surprisingly reduced stress.
Aside from experiencing American college life, as I set out to do, I also met a lot of nice people from other parts of the world to share this experience with.
Sadly, at the end of the year it was already time to go back home. However, if I could have stayed for another term, I definitely would have. H2P!
To be honest, Pittsburgh was not my first choice (or even my second) when I first applied for an exchange semester at my home university. I had never even heard of Pitt. After four months of studying abroad however, I can comfortably say that every minute was absolutely worth it.
Having previously not been to the US for more than two days, I was able to get to know a part of the country that I feel is rarely represented in the world. Thanks to Pitt’s urban campus and since I was living off-campus, I was able to see a lot of the city. I especially enjoyed the trips offered by the Pitt Outdoors Club on which I got to see the more rural parts of Pennsylvania and its beautiful state parks and met a lot of wonderful students from other departments.
But the classes were a highlight themselves. Every professor was very supportive and having graded homework throughout the semester and midterms as opposed to only one final exam in Germany meant that I was able to constantly assess my performance and surprisingly reduced stress.
Aside from experiencing American college life, as I set out to do, I also met a lot of nice people from other parts of the world to share this experience with.
Sadly, at the end of the year it was already time to go back home. However, if I could have stayed for another term, I definitely would have. H2P!
Ruben Horn