With 3 global experiences under her belt, this senior shares lessons learned with her peers back at Pitt

Erin Lancaster, a Class of 2025 senior, has advice for first-generation college students like herself: “Surround yourself with people who believe in you even when you don't believe in yourself; you do belong.”

It’s a credo the David C. Frederick Honors College student has followed throughout her time at the University by cultivating relationships with her peers.

Lancaster, a psychology major in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, learned the value of giving back early on. In high school, she benefited from TRIO Upward Bound, a federally supported college preparatory program targeting students whose parents did not attend college, and she returned as a summer mentor after completing her first year at the University.

She also served as a peer mentor for Pitt’s TRIO Student Support Services, another federal initiative dedicated to supporting first-generation and low-income students, and a student ambassador for the Global Hub, a student lounge and international learning resource center. 

“Being a part of TRIO and the Global Hub has provided me with opportunities to share the experiences I’ve had at Pitt with other students,” said Lancaster.

Molly McSweeney, assistant director for student and community engagement at the Global Hub, said Erin’s ability to engage undergraduates makes her a standout student ambassador.

“She goes above and beyond in her work at the Global Hub, bringing both maturity and modesty to how she supports students seeking international opportunities,” she said.

Lancaster, though, is quick to attribute such traits to the global experiences she’s experienced at Pitt, both in the Global Hub and through her own study abroad adventures.

“I have participated in numerous internationally focused events that have helped me become more culturally competent and increase my cultural humility,” she said of working in the Global Hub. “It’s motivated me to become a lifelong learner of different cultures and inspired me to travel and meet new people.”

Inspired by her friends’ shared passions for K-pop and South Korean TV dramas, Lancaster picked up a minor in Korean linguistics and tackled her first study abroad experience the summer before her junior year at Pitt. She spent six weeks in Seoul, where she enrolled in Yonsei International Summer School, studying Korean culture, cinema and history.

For Lancaster, it was a pivotal lesson in the power of learning by immersion.

“If I hadn’t gone to Korea, I wouldn’t have noticed the social nuances of living there, and I wouldn’t have deeply appreciated the country’s history,” she said.

And she took those lessons along with her commitment to nurturing connections even further by completing an internship with Youth Voices Count, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, in Thailand and the Philippines the following summer. Supported by a Summer Voyage Scholarship, Lancaster observed what mental health care looked like in a non-Western context. While she is still forming her post-graduate plan, her experience interning with Youth Voices Count taught her that if she works for a nonprofit, she wants to do work where she can see the impact firsthand.

“I want to be a part of grassroots organizations to see how people are benefiting,” Lancaster said. “I want to interact on a personal level with them.”

Photography by Tom Altany