When Paul Giliberto, \u201927, sat down at the table for a meal of Bryndzov\u00e9 Halu\u0161ky\u2014a small mountain of potato dumplings covered in a creamy cheese sauce and topped with crispy chopped bacon, a hearty meal prized as the national dish of Slovakia\u2014 he felt keenly just how far he was from The Citadel campus he calls home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A finance major from Rocky Hill, Connecticut, Giliberto spent the semester studying at the University of P\u00e9cs in P\u00e9cs, Hungary. Among the first Citadel students to study there, Giliberto enjoyed cultural immersion at a university that boasts a history spanning more than 650 years and a large international population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Giliberto took courses on topics such as international economics, corporate finance, investments and operations management, he also learned from peers hailing from India, Bangladesh, Italy and France, among many other countries. \u201cI\u2019m able to meet people who are doing the same kind of work that I am, but in all different parts of the world,\u201d said Giliberto. \u201cIt\u2019s been an awesome networking opportunity. The best part of this experience has been meeting all of these new people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alongside engaging with a vibrant international community, Giliberto took every opportunity to explore the region, traveling to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, as well as Slovakia, Croatia, Sweden and elsewhere. \u201cThis travel has opened my eyes. I\u2019ve never been to this part of the world before, and it\u2019s squashed the preconceived notions that I had about Eastern Europe,\u201d said Giliberto. \u201cThese are the friendliest people I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Giliberto, encountering new cultural perspectives has helped redefine the way he sees the world around him. \u201cThe world is much bigger than we can see,\u201d said Giliberto. \u201cAs Americans, we can have a narrow view of the world. Studying abroad has expanded everything that I thought I knew and fostered a new curiosity about how the world really works.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Paul Giliberto, \u201927, sat down at the table for a meal of Bryndzov\u00e9 Halu\u0161ky\u2014a small mountain of potato dumplings covered in a creamy cheese sauce and topped with crispy chopped bacon, a hearty meal prized as the national dish of Slovakia\u2014 he felt keenly just how far he was from The Citadel campus he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other"],"yoast_head":"\n