Ciao!
My name is Abby Magistro. I am a rising junior and computer engineering major at Pitt. Outside of classes, I am a member of the color guard of the Pitt marching band. I grew up in the suburbs around Pittsburgh. I chose to go to Pitt because I liked the idea of being in the city and wanted to stay a little close to home. For my global experience, I spent the entire month of May in Florence, Italy exploring the history and engineering of the Renaissance. This was my first time out of the country and my first time traveling alone, so I was equally excited and nervous going into this study abroad.
I knew before I started college that I wanted to study abroad in Italy because I had never gotten the opportunity to go abroad before. I knew that studying abroad not only offered me the chance to travel to another country and experience the culture, but to also progress my college studies and learn more deeply about Italy from people who had lived there for many years. This was something I knew I had to take advantage of. I choose to study abroad in Italy specifically because I have some Italian heritage that my family and I don't know much about and haven't really explored very much. My high school also offered an Italian language class, so I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to learn Italian for four years in high school. That class not only got me more interested in Italian culture and food but provided me with a foundation in Italian that made me feel much more comfortable going to Italy. The Engineering Perspectives of the Renaissance and Sustainability program in Florence originally stood out to me because of its focus on engineering. As I mentioned before, I am a computer engineer, so I was really pleased to see that this program was geared towards engineering students and clearly fulfilled some of my major requirements. I settled on this program because it allowed me to explore topics I'm interested in that I probably wouldn't have gotten to learn about otherwise at Pitt, like sustainability. I really enjoy taking classes related to my major, but the chance to learn about things outside of it like art history and architecture is something I found really interesting. Even learning about the engineering of the Renaissance was a little outside my major because it was more focused on mechanical, civil, and biomedical engineering, which makes sense given that computers weren't even a thing then.
Overall, I knew studying abroad would provide an amazing chance to see and learn so many new and amazing things. It advanced my degree progress, so that I am done with all my gen eds. It has led to me meeting some really cool people. It has allowed me to think about the global contexts of things and about sustainability. Mostly it has made me more confident, resilient, and curious which will serve me well into the future and help in my career. I am incredibly glad I got the experience.
Arrivederci!
Abby Magistro
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