Hello! My name is Emerson Bolenbaugh, and I am a rising sophomore participating in the Children’s Experience of War and Trauma program this summer. I am in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the David C. Frederick Honors College, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Classical Civilizations. Outside of the classroom, I am a research assistant at the Kids’ Thinking Lab studying how young children acquire foundational math concepts and a member of Psychology Club at Pitt. In my free time, I love spending time with my family and friends, trying new restaurants and food, reading, and listening to podcasts and music! 

I stumbled across the Children’s Experience of War and Trauma program while paging through the Pitt Global Experiences website, and upon reading the description, I knew that I had to go. I know that sounds dramatic but let me explain. I have always been interested in how our experiences affect us, both in a physical way by means of neurological changes, and in a mental and emotional way, how our experiences change the way we think, feel, etc. A traumatic event, or series of events, is an extreme experience that can affect us in extraordinary and agonizing ways, especially with something as terrifying as war. Because of this, I am interested in how war has affected those who have been through it as civilians as well as how experts have approached treating people, especially children, when they have been in such a harrowing situation.  

In addition to the subject matter of the program, what caught my eye was the location. The program is four weeks, two weeks on campus in Pittsburgh, and two weeks in London. I lived in London with my family for about four years when I was a kid, and absolutely loved living there. I have considered moving back there after finishing school, and I thought this program might be a good “test run” and insight into what living there is like with much more independence than I had at seven years old. All while studying something that I am really interested in! 

I not only hope to find a potential future home through this program, but also a deeper understanding of how trauma has affected the children who have lived through war, their stories, and what trauma experts as well as the global community can do to help.  

When I came to Pitt just this past August, I had no idea what I wanted for my future career-wise and hoped that I would be able to find that here before I graduated. This program is one of the hopefully many things that I will try while I’m here to find that career interest. 

I am beyond excited for this program, and I cannot wait to be back in London!