Elizabeth Tillman
University of Pittsburgh | Bradford
Heinz Programming Area:
Elizabeth Tillman spent her summer studying the Costa Rican culture in Veritas University in Zapote, a suburb of San José, Costa Rica. While she was there, she spent her mornings taking an Intensive Spanish Language class and in the afternoons using her newly acquired skills to immerse herself in the culture and communicate with the Costa Ricans in their native language. She spent most of her time discovering the culture by going to museums and artisan markets. Elizabeth also spent most of her weekends traveling the country to places such Puerto Viejo, a Caribbean coastal town, Tamarindo, a Pacific coastal town, La Paz waterfall, Arenal Volcano and Poas Volcano. She enjoyed spending time with her host family and learning about the family structure in Costa Rica. She also learned to meringue and salsa.
CEE Title: Crash Into Diversity
For her CEE, Crash Into Diversity was the CEE of three VIH awardees at UPB. The team created a two hour program for fifth grade students to increase their acceptance of diversity. Through different skits, they role played situations. The students also played diversity bingo, had group discussions on aspects of diversity, and met different UPB university students from foreign countries, thus increasing their appreciation for different languages and cultures.