Hello! My name is Charlie; I'm a Pittsburgh native born and raised on the North Side and I'm about to start my junior year as an engineering student at Pitt. I love my city more than anywhere else in the world, and I absolutely love sharing it with other people! Coming to Pitt was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I would be overjoyed to be a part of the same process for you.

Hometown

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Major(s)

Civil Engineering

Minor(s)

History

Clubs, organizations & involvement

American Society of Civil Engineers (Member of executive board and captain on a competition team)

Describe your college experience

As someone who grew up in Pittsburgh, I initially worried that I would be bored and not pushed out of my comfort zone by staying so close at Pitt, but I was dead wrong in the best way. When you're in Oakland, you don't feel like a part of the rest of the city unless you want to. Campus is it's own ecosystem, and that allowed me to truly become a new version of myself. Pitt has an amazing community, and I quickly found clubs and other groups where I felt like myself. As an engineer, I'd be lying if I said I loved all my classes and professors, but the support Pitt offers, especially the advising team, is game changing. For me being a Pitt student is the perfect balance of everything you could ask for. We have major sports teams and a pretty large student base like you could find at other big colleges, but the school is also built so that you never get overwhelmed by the amount of students. If you want an urban campus, we're a ten minute bus ride from downtown and another ten to great shops and other places in the other direction. But you'd be just as fine staying on campus. Greek life is present but small enough that you don't need to join a frat or sorority to have fun at parties or meet new people. I think it's a perfect balance of everything.

Tip for future students

Lock in!! Trust me cramming late for exams doesn't work often. Stay on top of homework and assignments and don't miss lecture even if attendance isn't mandatory. But at the same time also don't overwork. An hour or so of good focus and hard work followed by a break is usually better than 4 hours of trying to force yourself to be productive.

Favorite class

I took some coding classes that were really fun, I like problem solving and I had fun doing the homeworks with friends

Career goals

Hopefully I can hit the ground running with an entry level job in a big city like New York

Ideal way to spend a free night

Playing pickup​/​intermural sports, watching movies with friends, or partying in south oakland

High school or secondary school

Obama Academy, Pittsburgh, PA

Previous college

N​/​A