Located on New Zealand's North Island, Auckland has a population of around 1.5 million. The University of Auckland was established in 1883, and the metro area is rife with arts, culture, history, and gustatorial opportunities. 

Xiaotong (Elaine) Jiang was born in Jiangsu, China. She moved to Pittsburgh in June 2017. She lived in New York for two years before she moved to Pittsburgh. Elaine is currently a junior at University of Pittsburgh and majoring in Finance. Elaine started with the Career Development and Placement Assistance office in March 2018 as an undergraduate Global Career Intern. 

Raised on the east coast, Julia Gagosian grew up 15 minutes outside of Boston in the small suburban town of Wellesley, Massachusetts. Growing up, she harbored a deep love for the Red Sox, lobster rolls, and hiking the trails of Henry David Thoreau’s, Walden Pond. Much time has passed since those days, as Julia is currently in her final year as an undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in political science, with a concentration in comparative politics.

Clare Miller is a sophomore student from Philadelphia studying at the University of Pittsburgh, pursuing a double major in Linguistics and Hispanic Language and Literatures with a concentration in Latin American Studies, and a Certificate in African Studies. She loves to read and write, listen to podcasts, play volleyball, run, cook, and play cards with her friends. Clare’s dream job is to work as a Catholic missionary in another country, or maybe in a neighborhood or school in her own city!

Addie Gray is a second-year student studying Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. She runs a travel blog at www.addieabroad.com, where she documents her experiences going to university abroad, shares her travel adventures, and gives advice to others who are hoping to study abroad.

Tim Hannigan was born in Penzance in the far west of the UK, and grew up on the stormy shores of the Atlantic. After leaving school, he worked as a chef to fund his travels, before studying journalism at the University of Gloucester. He then headed to Indonesia to teach English. He stayed on in the country for several years as a journalist and travel writer. His first book, Murder in the Hindu Kush, was published in 2011, and was shortlisted for the Boardman-Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature.