Hi! My name is Riley and I am a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration and the Frederick Honors College. I am majoring in Business Analytics and Business Information Systems, and pursuing a minor in Political Science. Outside of the classroom, you can catch me running, crocheting, or trying…
The Little Things: Small Culture Shocks
I am familiar with the concept of culture shock and was always expecting to experience it while studying abroad. However, I have been surprised to discover that, in my experience, it often comes in smaller packages than I imagined it would. For the most part, daily life in Germany looks pretty similar to the US…
Celebrating the Winter Holidays in Germany
Though the German winter semester does not actually end until the beginning of February, classes are now on pause for holiday break. The house — typically buzzing with activity and occupied by 27 students — all but emptied out as my housemates returned home to spend time with their families. For me, this is the…
A Semester in London
Ahead of my semester in London, I held nothing but excitement in my heart. As I packed my bags, I looked forward to a semester full of travel and new friendships. More than that, I was excited to experience a country with a different government. I fantasized about strong public transportation systems and social welfare….
Final Thoughts for Florence
While I studied abroad in Italy, some of the biggest learning moments I experienced were outside the classroom. For the first time in my academic journey, I balanced an internship where I worked 20 hours a week with a full course load. On top of that, I also maintained a social life, visited museums, and…
Listening Before Leading: ACRI, DC Presentation
Early this December (2025), my team and I found ourselves in the heart of DC, awaiting to present our findings and recommendations for Fayette County to the funders, external stakeholders, and other participants of the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI). The Annual ACRI Conference, hosted by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and East Tennessee State…
Grappling with Anxiety, Fear, and Pride: ACRI, Connellsville Presentation
The Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative presentation in Connellsville this past November (2025) served as a vessel for many firsts for me, and presumably for some of my colleagues. Until now, I’ve never had the opportunity or privilege to stand before a room full of relevant stakeholders and present to them findings and recommendations pertaining to…
Classroom to Conference: Takeaways from the ACRI Research Forum
This past weekend, December 4th to December 6th, the sustainability, business and urban studies/political science cohorts represented the University of Pittsburgh and Frederick Honors College at the 2025 Appalachian Regional Commission Initiative Research Forum in Washington D.C. We started our trip on Thursday, December 4th, in which we focused on finalizing our presentation. Although we…
Trip to DC
Our trip to Washington DC last week was incredibly informative and meaningful. The opportunity to take the work we had been doing around Fayette County and put it in conversation with projects from across the entire Appalachian region was the perfect culminating experience. Our presentation itself had been tightened up and polished a lot between…
11/14 Presentation Day
I would consider the Connellsville presentation we gave to be an overall success, with a few reminders of where we can strengthen our project. Each group arrived prepared and informed on their topics and on the research they had been doing. The area we still needed to work on was our sense of cohesion and…