Hi! My name is Piper Narendorf. I am a sophomore double majoring in sociology and urban planning and geographic analysis with a minor in Gender, Sexuality, and Gender Studies. I work for a lab in the public health department focused on community health and wellbeing, specifically projects working with youth and misinformation regarding vaping and e-cigarettes. I am involved in community research through the university and with the greater Pittsburgh community with my departmental work and also through the American Civil Liberties Union as the Social Action Chair. I was also a Community Research Fellow for the Summer of 2022 through the Frederick Honors College where I worked with the Allegheny County Policing Project. Through this research, I assisted in making visual aids for policing statistics in Allegheny County and created a survey for attaining information on the complaint processes at police departments throughout the municipalities in Allegheny County.

I am participating in the Pitt in London study abroad program for the Spring 2023 semester. Through this program, I am able to participate in both classes focused on the city of London and an internship. This specific study abroad program is through an American center which will allow me to meet other students from America. The classes I will be taking will have a focus on London and Britain as a whole with field exercises that will allow me to experience a global city by participating in the global city. Through the internship I am participating in, I hope to gain valuable work experience in a field that I could envision myself working for in the future. I am working for a subsect of a housing association that is focused on community health and wellbeing through community connectivity and healthy lifestyles. I will be focused on asset mapping the green spaces throughout the Tower Hamlets borough of the greater London metropolitan area.

Overall, this experience is a way for me to get out of my comfort zone and explore a new and bigger city than the ones that I have been to and lived in. This opportunity is an exciting way to try out a career and a location that I could potentially come back to for a Master’s or to work in a global city.