My title follows up thematically with my first post on this site and for good reason – I am significantly more aware of the inner workings of Romania, and I feel confident that I traversed much of the country. That being said, “significantly more aware” than the zero knowledge I had going into this trip still leaves me painfully ignorant. Like anyone, I would have to live and breathe Romania for many years to truly get a feel for the nation and its many cultures, but for my purposes, this trip was a smashing success!

I had two major takeaways from this experience: (1.) Try anything and everything that might be appealing! (2.) Learning can happen anywhere and everywhere – sometimes in the places where you least expect it to. Honestly, these sound like empty platitudes, but I really do mean it. Never a day in my life did I think I would be heading to Romania until the opportunity was placed before me. Never a day in my life did I think I would fall in love with Tantuni – a Turkish street food my good friend Bora introduced me to in Brussels – until I followed him onto the Belgian subway. Never a day in my life did I think I would learn about Saxon tradition in Transylvania through dancing to folk music in Braşov until I read the itinerary in April. I will be taking this into my academic career at Pitt – and in general – by seeking out new and exciting academic pursuits while simultaneously prioritizing extracurricular and out-of-classroom activities. After all, you never know what you will find!

But none of this would have been possible without the help of many people. First and foremost, I’d like to thank my parents for helping me sponsor the trip – without them, I wouldn’t have even considered it. In the same vein, I am deeply grateful for the Martinson family and its vital contribution to my funding. My sincere thanks to Dr. Dijmarescu for all of the hard work and meaningful effort he put into securing such fantastic opportunities for my group and me, as well as teaching us the fundamentals of identity formation and Eastern Europe’s place in global politics. I must tip my hat to Dr. Liu for handling the administrative side of things here at Pitt as well. Finally, I want to shout out my tripmates; you guys really made the experience for me, and I am looking forward to maintaining our friendships on campus 🙂

This trip was one of a kind, and it has inspired me to travel more. Once my post-graduation plans are finalized during senior year, I plan to carve out time to visit more interesting places, like Romania, that are perhaps off the beaten path for the average tourist. Southeastern Europe is full of fascinating spots, and I see myself visiting a few more times if I’m lucky.

To any FHC student, my advice to you is this: scroll around the page. I don’t even mean the Global Experiences Office page to look at study abroad options (don’t get me wrong – you totally should, but this piece of advice is broader). Everything is digital these days, and you have access to almost every opportunity you can think of, especially with support from the folks here at Pitt. Make sure that you are regularly scrolling around webpages and scanning for new experiences, challenges, etc. that you can add to your horizon. It’s what I did for this trip I will remember for a lifetime, and it is something I hope you all can do in the future.

Thanks for tuning in! That’s all from me 🙂