Glera Jupiter
University of Pittsburgh | Greensburg
Heinz Programming Area:
Glera Jupiter studied international business in Australia, for six weeks, through the organization, Study- Australia. She studied South-East Asia’s culture and economic background including religion and the trade market. She had the opportunity to visit the Indonesian Consulate in Canberra, as well as visit the stock exchange in Sydney. Within a relatively short period, she was able to travel to five parts of Australia. These parts included Darwin, Kakadu, Canberra, Sydney and Cairns. Much of her free time was spent speaking with the natives and learning about the aborigine culture. In particular, she would go into the local stores and ask the locals about the culture. She also visited the aborigine embassy, which saddened her heart to see the minimal amount of respect the aborigine culture received. On the weekends, she would either trip to different locations or enjoy the nightlife with the locals to experience life as they lived it. She was also able to spend a week and a half in Fiji, where she experienced very different cultures, food and language.
In collaboration with the Visual Arts Society, Chelsea and I created an art exhibit. Students from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg donated their pieces of art to the show. These art pieces focused around our theme of poverty. On the art labels, we included the title as well as facts about those around the world affected by poverty. We placed the event on the same night as the schools play so that we could increase attendees. Those who attended had a choice to either enlighten themselves with the experience of the art, or purchase votes to vote for their favorite art work. The money for the votes went towards the American Red Cross to the disaster relief for Japan. The artist, who acquired the most votes, had won a prize at the end which was provided by the Visual Arts Society. Before the awards were given, Chelsea and I delivered a speech that informed the audience why they were there, where their contributions were going and gave more information about poverty. We also told the community how much money we gained and thanked them for their participation.