At a ceremony held on December 9, Roberto Rizzo, Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy, presented the young student with the first scholarship established by the Viva Italia Festival in Canberra, an initiative created to support outstanding students in their Italian language learning journey.
Guy thanked Chair of the Festival Committee Lyndall Heddle and the Dante Alighieri Society of Canberra, an organisation run largely by volunteers of Italian background or with strong ties to Italian culture that works to deliver educational programs in schools and to strengthen the Italian community through initiatives and partnerships.
Guy has been actively involved in the activities of the ANU Italian Culture Society, which collaborates with the Dante Alighieri Society of Canberra to build networks and community.
“I don’t have Italian heritage, but I grew up in Australia, where Italian culture is everywhere—friends, restaurants, everyday life,” he explains.
“It felt a bit like living in a small corner of Italy.”
After finishing school, a simple interest in food and the beauty of the language led him to start studying Italian. What began as curiosity soon became something deeper.
“It was a snowball effect,” he says. “The more I learned, the more I fell in love with the history, the art and the culture. I couldn’t stop.”
Guy decided to add a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Italian studies to his degree in politics, philosophy and economics.
“At first my parents wondered whether it was a sensible choice,” he admits. “Today, I think it was one of the best decisions of my life.
“It opened doors and relationships I never imagined.”
The beginning, however, was not easy: “I was terrified and shy when I had to speak Italian. I was placed in a higher-level class and at first I felt completely out of place.”
The turning point came during a pizza night organised by the university’s Italian Culture Society. “I started talking to people I didn’t know, and for the first time I felt part of a community,” he recalls.
“From there, friendships were born with people to practise the language with.”
For Guy, language is not just a tool. “Learning Italian allows you to truly enter the culture, not just see it as a tourist,” he explains.
“It gives you the chance to connect in an authentic way.”
Thanks to his dedication and strong results in his Italian courses, Guy won a scholarship that took him to the University for Foreigners of Siena, where he attended an intensive Italian course for a month.
“I only started studying this beautiful language 15 months ago,” he reveals with amazement, “and today I’m here, studying overseas at such a high level. I never would have expected it.”
During his time in Italy, he is staying with an Italian family who do not speak English, a choice that has forced full immersion in the language and culture.
“They introduced me to typical Tuscan dishes and took me to places I would never have visited. It’s an incredible experience,” he shares.
The stay has reinforced his belief that foreign languages should not be considered superfluous. “[While] with AI today translating is easy, it’s also true that you don’t study a language for its utility,” he says.
“It’s passion. It’s personal enrichment. It’s truly understanding another culture.”
As a committee member of the Italian Culture Society, Guy Juter works to create spaces where students of all levels can practise Italian, including social gatherings focused on speaking the language, because “the Italian community in Australia is still strong—we just need to make it visible to young people”.
Looking ahead, he hopes to combine his background in politics, philosophy and economics with his language skills: “I’d like to work in diplomacy or international politics and help strengthen ties between Australia, Italy and Europe.”
“Guy is studying Italian at an intermediate level. He is an exceptional young person and, thanks to the wonderful speech he delivered at the Embassy, we invited him to become the first Youth Ambassador of our festival. We are confident he will go on to do great things,” announced Heddle.
Meanwhile, Lecturer Carla Bagna from Siena and Francesco Ricatti from ANU Canberra are developing a program that, from 2027, aims to allow all students enrolled in ANU’s Italian courses to spend a month in Siena for an intensive program.
