As a first-generation college student, I never expected to be telling my mom that I’d be studying abroad in Florence. I’d always thought that studying abroad just wasn’t in the cards for me. After learning that I had received a Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship, The Martinson Elevate Award, and a Pitt GlobalExperiences Office Scholaship I finally realized that this was something I could experience. The first thing I did when coming to this realization was call my mom, right when the call clicked I excitedly yelled “Mami, me voy a Firenze!”
Being a first-generation American and first-gen college student are huge part of my identity as a student at the University of Pittsburgh. Admittedly, as a rising third-year at Pitt, I didn’t realize how passionate I was about education until the second semester of my first year. It’s crazy to think how fast time goes by. To think I had no idea who I was or who I wanted to be, to just recently declaring my majors in Teacher Education and English and working on my Bachelor of Philosophy with my mentor Dr. Philandra Smith.
When applying to the Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship, the first thing you want to know is what program you are looking to do for your study abroad. Therefore, early on I knew I wanted to attend the Early Childhood Education in Florence Panther Program. When researching programs, I was fascinated by the structure of the program and its framework to teach students about language learning students in the classroom. As much of the curriculum offered signed with my personal research in the area of English language learning, I immediately knew that this was the program for me.
There is certainly a lot of uncertainty when it comes to knowing what I want to receive at the end of this program. There is so much learning to do. If I were to do one thing, I would hope to grow as a person and as an individual. A new chapter, here I come!
The University of Pittsburgh is providing to my daughter Stephany Andrade, great opportunities to learn and grow with in her professional career.
As parents, we appreciate the University of Pittsburgh everything they do for their students.
I am so proud of you Stephany and for all your accomplishments. Love you hijita