About Me
My name is Katherine Marcan, but most of my friends call me Kat. I’m a 20 year old studying biomedical and chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. I was born and raised in the Bay Area, CA. I attended a Spanish immersion elementary school. Most of my classmates were Mexican and spoke Spanish at home, but as a young child, I paid no attention to this difference or the fact that I was the only blonde haired, blue eyed white girl to attend the school.
At a young age, I found a profound appreciation for nature and the natural progression of the unique life we live here on Earth. Cities fascinate me. Learning and experiencing how different and dynamic cultures come together, condense, and blend in cities is one of my passions. Living just south of San Francisco, I grew up with a desire to embrace everything that the amazing city had to offer.
At 18, I moved across the country from my beautiful city to live in another. The move was exciting and I quickly fell in love with Pittsburgh. Now, coming into my 3rd year at the CMU, I decided to make another change, to, once again, move to a new, unfamiliar place. To take another adventure. I will be spending my junior fall semester in Santa Fe, Argentina, attending la la Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL) and focusing on my studies in chemical engineering. Classes will be in 100% fluent Spanish. On top of that, I will have an over-loaded course schedule. Out of the 147 abroad students attending UNL, I am the ONLY one from the United States. Most students come from other Spanish speaking countries such as Columbia, Peru, and Spain. With the current political climate in the US and economic recession in Argentina, I know that I may encounter unwelcoming interactions and my visit may not be considered the most comfortable. Although this may sound daunting, this fact only excites me further. I have the opportunity to prove to myself that I can work through language barriers and cultural clashes, all while advancing my academic career.
This is a DO or DIE situation.
I fully intend to DO.