Global Citizenship Synthesis Essay
When students start their college years their main goal is to graduate, but for me that wasn’t my only goal. My main goal during my college experience was to study abroad and immerse myself in cultures from all over the globe. The global citizenship competency promoted by the Honors Program drove me to create goals for myself to not only study abroad while at Minnesota State University, Mankato, but to also engage in and with people, events and communities that pushed me out of my culture norms and personal boundaries. I forced myself to start asking deep and meaningful questions about how I interact not only within my own culture but other cultures as well. By growing and reflecting on my global citizenship experiences at MNSU I have been able to develop an evolved idea on how I can make a positive impact when interacting with others inside and outside my own culture.
In my Honors First Year Experience course, we shared as a class how our cultural characteristics make us all unique. We all wrote down four words that describe who we are and thought of two situations about each word. One situation had a positive impact and the other had a negative impact. This activity was enlightening, because it helped us share that we may be one thing but shouldn't believe in stereotypes from that same word. I now see global citizenship as a way of understanding other cultures around the world and how it makes the world more connected, and that global citizenship is far more than studying a second language. I came to realize that establishing an open mindset is crucial to developing this competency, and I knew that by placing myself in cultures that were different than my own I could do that.
My first step in doing this was continuing to study Spanish. I completed Spanish 102, 201 and 210W while at MNSU. These classes helped me understand not only the language but also helped me do projects and interact with people that had me learning about other cultures. In my 102 and 201 classes many of the students were exchange students from Brazil. Working with these students helped better my global citizenship competency by challenging me to work with people from another culture. I was able to ask questions to help me know why they do things differently than me. For example, the men continued to wear flip flops throughout the winter because they are called “everyday” shoes where they are from and they wear them every day whatever the weather. Projects like this in language courses helped me learn to be informed about cultures, people and situations, and will especially benefit me for my future career.
Another way I was able to immerse myself in another culture was with my IEP student, Karen. I worked with Karen over one semester helping better her English speaking and comprehension skills, and along the way I made a lifelong friend and learned a lot about her and her culture. My communication skills were tested during our interactions because it was challenging to know if Karen was comprehending all of the information I was giving her. I was challenged to practice and adapt my own speaking skills so I could effectively communicate with her when I realized she may not understand the slang terms I used. That obstacle helped me become a better tutor for Karen and prepared me to be able to communicate with people during my study abroad trips.
In 2018 I was able to go on not one but two study abroad experiences. My first trip was a 10-day research project in the United Kingdom and the second was a semester long trip to Australia. These cultural experiences allowed me to fully immerse myself into another culture especially when living with a host family in Australia. I took part in activities outside of the household with the family and also experienced regular cultural norms that involved local cuisine, history and travel with people I met through the university. These experiences challenged me to explore complex questions about their culture. These interactions between myself and people in the UK and Australia helped better my understanding on how languages and cultures aren’t the only things that need to be understood when interacting with another person from a different culture. And if given the effort to understand people from different backgrounds you can create relationships and connections with people all over the world. Through these interactions and friendships, I was able to describe and analyze my development as a global citizen interacting with people whose views on culture and everyday aspects are different than my own.
Overall, my undergraduate experience has allowed me to expand on my knowledge as a global citizen and showed me how I adapt in various settings. As I finish my last semester at MNSU I will prepare myself to use these learned skills in my journalism career where I will communicate with people from various backgrounds and be able to share their knowledge and perspectives with my audience.
In my Honors First Year Experience course, we shared as a class how our cultural characteristics make us all unique. We all wrote down four words that describe who we are and thought of two situations about each word. One situation had a positive impact and the other had a negative impact. This activity was enlightening, because it helped us share that we may be one thing but shouldn't believe in stereotypes from that same word. I now see global citizenship as a way of understanding other cultures around the world and how it makes the world more connected, and that global citizenship is far more than studying a second language. I came to realize that establishing an open mindset is crucial to developing this competency, and I knew that by placing myself in cultures that were different than my own I could do that.
My first step in doing this was continuing to study Spanish. I completed Spanish 102, 201 and 210W while at MNSU. These classes helped me understand not only the language but also helped me do projects and interact with people that had me learning about other cultures. In my 102 and 201 classes many of the students were exchange students from Brazil. Working with these students helped better my global citizenship competency by challenging me to work with people from another culture. I was able to ask questions to help me know why they do things differently than me. For example, the men continued to wear flip flops throughout the winter because they are called “everyday” shoes where they are from and they wear them every day whatever the weather. Projects like this in language courses helped me learn to be informed about cultures, people and situations, and will especially benefit me for my future career.
Another way I was able to immerse myself in another culture was with my IEP student, Karen. I worked with Karen over one semester helping better her English speaking and comprehension skills, and along the way I made a lifelong friend and learned a lot about her and her culture. My communication skills were tested during our interactions because it was challenging to know if Karen was comprehending all of the information I was giving her. I was challenged to practice and adapt my own speaking skills so I could effectively communicate with her when I realized she may not understand the slang terms I used. That obstacle helped me become a better tutor for Karen and prepared me to be able to communicate with people during my study abroad trips.
In 2018 I was able to go on not one but two study abroad experiences. My first trip was a 10-day research project in the United Kingdom and the second was a semester long trip to Australia. These cultural experiences allowed me to fully immerse myself into another culture especially when living with a host family in Australia. I took part in activities outside of the household with the family and also experienced regular cultural norms that involved local cuisine, history and travel with people I met through the university. These experiences challenged me to explore complex questions about their culture. These interactions between myself and people in the UK and Australia helped better my understanding on how languages and cultures aren’t the only things that need to be understood when interacting with another person from a different culture. And if given the effort to understand people from different backgrounds you can create relationships and connections with people all over the world. Through these interactions and friendships, I was able to describe and analyze my development as a global citizen interacting with people whose views on culture and everyday aspects are different than my own.
Overall, my undergraduate experience has allowed me to expand on my knowledge as a global citizen and showed me how I adapt in various settings. As I finish my last semester at MNSU I will prepare myself to use these learned skills in my journalism career where I will communicate with people from various backgrounds and be able to share their knowledge and perspectives with my audience.
Global Citizenship Essay
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For my Honors First Year Experience Class, we shared as a class how our cultural characteristics make us all unique. We all wrote down four words that describe who we are and thought of two situations about each word. One situation had a positive impact and the other had a negative impact. This activity was enlightening, because it helped the class share that we all may be one thing but shouldn't believe in stereotypes from that same word. This activity was a good way to show us students that people are people and shouldn't be classed just for who these words describe them to be. I now see global citizenship as the way of understanding other cultures around the world and how it makes the world more connected. I see being globally competent as a way to make people in the world understand each other and about where we come from. I learned that global citizenship is needed to make the world communicate and interact with each other in a positive and progressive manner. I was able to demonstrate my emerging realization of being a member of my culture in this essay by understanding how I interpreted my culture and how my culture impacts me as a person. I was able to show awareness about my cultures varies contexts and boundaries by explaining how my culture, especially the media/my career has a large impact on cultural rules and biases. I asked simple questions related to myself and my understanding of my culture, and I also asked basic questions about how my culture is different than others. I discussed how my communication skills differ from people of different cultures and how I can work on understanding them. Global citizenship benefits me as a Mass Media student, because it gives me the opportunity to strengthen my views as a culturally influenced person. By learning more about global competency it will make me more open to understanding and viewing different peoples' views and strengthen my career as a journalist. Through this essay I describe and analyze my view on my development of global citizenship.
Further Developing my Global Citizenship Language Competency: 102, 201 and 210W
Spanish 102, 201
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In my Spanish 102 and 201 courses my professor gave us research topics to research as a group. She gave us these specific topics because they were about events that very few people outside of the country in which they happened would know about. From different ethnic groups in Spanish-speaking countries to a hidden genocide by the government in another, our instructor made sure we had topics that needed effective research done to find accurate facts. This was the first college level project I had to do with people I didn't know outside of class. We had to plan around our crazy schedules during the last week of classes and prepare to present the whole project in Spanish to the whole class. I was able to show awareness about my culture’s various contexts and boundaries by explaining how my culture, especially how my educational background, differed from my group members who were from Brazil. After working with my group members, I understood that many personal ideas that I would come to think of as normal for my culture weren’t normal for their culture and I was able to recognize and compare and contrast our different cultural rules and biases. One of the main rules we saw as different was our cultural idea of showing up “on time.” Also, I learned how to be more confident when speaking in front of the class. I wasn't speaking the language I grew up speaking, so by taking more time and concentrating on my words I was able to think more about what I was saying instead of about all the people watching me. This project helped better my global citizenship competency because of my ability to understand things that happen in other cultures and how by knowing the challenges I can help and better the world from my perspective. I was also able to ask my group members questions about school and life back in Brazil and I came to understand why they did some of the interesting things they did. For example, some of the men continued to wear flip flops throughout the winter because they are called “everyday” shoes where they are from and they wear them every day whatever the weather. Projects like this in language courses helped me learn to be informed about cultures, people and situations, and will especially benefit me for my future career. Through this presentation I describe and analyze my topic of informing the world that today things are still happening that we don't know about, and that we still need to work together to make the world a better and safer place for the future. This presentation reflects upon my knowledge of my global citizenship and language competency skills, and how I developed my global citizenship competency here at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Spanish 210W Proyecto Final
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For my Spanish 210W class, we worked on a final project throughout the semester. We did this six-page research paper in stages to develop our time management and our peer editing skills in class. Each student got to pick a photo that had some sort of meaning to themselves or their family. Once they had a photo and a topic, they were given the task of applying that topic to a Spanish-speaking country and research it. We all had a wide range of topics and research ideas. Then at the end of the semester each student converted their paper into a PowerPoint Presentation and presented it in from of the class in Spanish. This project helped further my development of my language competency in global citizenship because it helped better my Spanish speaking in front of a large group of people. This project also helped me find different perspectives from my own culture and link these to concepts in the real world to help people better understand other cultures. I discussed how my communication skills differ from people of different cultures and how I can work on understanding them. I was able to learn and research about two huge controversies between the United States and Mexico which are talked about a lot during this past election and current presidency. The two controversies are the border situation and illegal immigrants in the United States. I learned that if there is to be a peaceful resolution between these two counties both have to stop blaming the other for their problems, especially the United States. I was able to learn and expand on my ideas of what the countries can do to move toward a resolution. While practicing my second language I was able to identify some cultural differences in verbal and non-verbal communication and the connections between language and culture for Spanish speaking countries. For example, I noticed during my research on the political disputes the people from Mexico and the United States had different priorities when discussing their nation’s needs. Their ways of nonverbal communication were different when they were discussing topics, they were more passionate about compared to things they weren’t passionate about. Verbally the communication was civil and helped the two cultures understand each other effectively. Communication is the most important idea because if we can't communicate effectively than ideas aren't understood, and we struggle to meet eye to eye. This project helped me learn to be informed about cultures, people and situations I don't know about before assuming I know how to help or fix them. Through this paper and presentation, I describe and analyze my topic of challenging the norm of today and collaborate for the benefit for the future. This assignment reflects upon my findings of my global citizenship and language competency skills, and how I will use them to further my global citizenship competency here at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
IEP Language Tutor
During my junior year at Minnesota State University, Mankato I had to pleasure to work with a student from Japan as part of the IEP language program. Her name was Karin and she was an exchange student studying at the university for a semester. We would meet twice a week in the library to watch videos and communicate in English so I could help her develop her English-speaking skills. I was able to show awareness about my culture’s various contexts and boundaries by explaining how my culture, especially how my education background and lifestyle, differed from hers. After working with Karin, I understood that many personal ideas that I think of as normal for my culture weren’t normal for her culture and I was able to recognize and compare and contrast our different cultural rules and biases especially when it came to work and lifestyle choices. One example was the lifestyle choice of living near/away from family and/or the city. For her it is normal for a child to move away from their hometown or move to a city and live with friends from university or work. In the US that is common, but students may also choose to stay in the same state or city they grew up in after they move out.
Through our interactions I saw how our progress as tutor and tutee changed to friends and we began to interact with each other outside of our weekly meetings. I took notice of how her lifestyle and culture are similar and different than mine, and I may not completely understand them, but it makes Karin who she is. I was able to ask deeper questions about her culture and understand her life on a deeper level than just tutor and tutee. She talked about her family and what she would do in a typical day back home. She would talk about her future and what things she looked forward to in Japan. I had to ask her complex questions because I not only needed to see if she was developing her English-speaking skills but because I was curious to know her answers. She would describe to me her family life and childhood to her teenage years to her college years. Later on, we compared them and built a bond on how our cultures were similar and different without judgement. I technically didn’t learn a second language in this situation but interacting with someone who did I noticed that Karin had many verbal ticks when she was nervous or not performing up to her standard. She would say sorry or uhhh or ohhh a lot when she was stuck on an English word. Some nonverbal communication I saw was that her and her Japanese friends communicate a lot more extensively through media. The media has, in my opinion, a large impact on image over in Japan. I noticed a lot in her verbal communication that Japanese grammar doesn’t use prepositions all that much. When she was talking, many of the sentences were choppy because the prepositions were missing. I also noticed that the more we met the more she talked with her hands which is something I do a lot, so I was thinking she was starting to do that more because of me. Also, slang was an interesting topic because I would use it and think she would understand it but later she would have to ask me what I meant by that certain word. Overall, Karin progressed as an English speaker and I progressed as a global citizen by learning about her and her culture. Through these interactions and resulting friendship, I was able to describe and analyze my development as a global citizen interacting with someone whose views on culture and everyday aspects are different than my own. These artifacts reflect upon my development of my global citizenship skills, and how I used them while here at Minnesota State University, Mankato and can continue to use in my future career as a journalist.
Through our interactions I saw how our progress as tutor and tutee changed to friends and we began to interact with each other outside of our weekly meetings. I took notice of how her lifestyle and culture are similar and different than mine, and I may not completely understand them, but it makes Karin who she is. I was able to ask deeper questions about her culture and understand her life on a deeper level than just tutor and tutee. She talked about her family and what she would do in a typical day back home. She would talk about her future and what things she looked forward to in Japan. I had to ask her complex questions because I not only needed to see if she was developing her English-speaking skills but because I was curious to know her answers. She would describe to me her family life and childhood to her teenage years to her college years. Later on, we compared them and built a bond on how our cultures were similar and different without judgement. I technically didn’t learn a second language in this situation but interacting with someone who did I noticed that Karin had many verbal ticks when she was nervous or not performing up to her standard. She would say sorry or uhhh or ohhh a lot when she was stuck on an English word. Some nonverbal communication I saw was that her and her Japanese friends communicate a lot more extensively through media. The media has, in my opinion, a large impact on image over in Japan. I noticed a lot in her verbal communication that Japanese grammar doesn’t use prepositions all that much. When she was talking, many of the sentences were choppy because the prepositions were missing. I also noticed that the more we met the more she talked with her hands which is something I do a lot, so I was thinking she was starting to do that more because of me. Also, slang was an interesting topic because I would use it and think she would understand it but later she would have to ask me what I meant by that certain word. Overall, Karin progressed as an English speaker and I progressed as a global citizen by learning about her and her culture. Through these interactions and resulting friendship, I was able to describe and analyze my development as a global citizen interacting with someone whose views on culture and everyday aspects are different than my own. These artifacts reflect upon my development of my global citizenship skills, and how I used them while here at Minnesota State University, Mankato and can continue to use in my future career as a journalist.
Study Abroad...Yes Two!
My 2018 was full of adventures that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I was able to travel abroad for the first time to England and Australia. While aboard I was able to develop my global citizenship competency by immersing myself in the cultures of not one but three different countries. I was able to show awareness about my culture’s various contexts and boundaries by explaining how my culture, especially how my education background and lifestyle, differed from the groups of people I met in England and Australia. After talking with interview subjects and my homestay family I understood that many personal ideas that I would come to think of as normal for my culture weren’t normal for their cultures, and I was able to recognize and compare and contrast our different cultural rules and biases. One example was how much sports impacted my culture a lot more than theirs. Through these interactions I noticed of how their lifestyles and cultures are different than mine, and I may not completely understand them, but it is their life and culture and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I got to ask a lot of deeper questions to the daughter of my homestay, Livi. We talked about how school and university were different, as well as favorite places to eat and other pop culture comparisons. My favorite was comparing the fast food restaurants that we both had but the menus were different. Some of my more complex questions came during my and her schooling. I learned that years 6-12 for Livi were a lot more complex than my schooling back in high school, and also, that my idea of higher education is a lot smaller work for a lowered percentage of the grade rather than in Australia where there are fewer assignments for larger grades. I also got to interact with other international students where I experienced others culturally different than myself without judgement or bias because we were all international students together. Some verbal differences I saw in Australia are that Aussies love to shorten every word they can. Afternoon is arvo, breakfast is brekkie and Australia is ‘stralia, and MANY more. Some nonverbal communication I saw had a lot to do with hand gestures. A lot of the men had interesting greetings with friends. But my favorite nonverbal was an unspoken rule that people would switch back and forth buying rounds of drinks, no questions asked. Many times when going out with Australian friends or students from the university we would engage in the unspoken idea of buying a round each time because to them it’s how you normally do it when going out in their culture. While in England I noticed that a lot of the verbal communication was very proper compared to the conversations in Australia and the US. These interactions between myself and people in the UK and Australia help better my understanding on how not just languages and cultures need to be understood and respected before someone interacts or interprets anything of someone from a different culture. And if given the effort to understand people from different backgrounds you can create relationships and connections from people all over the world. Through these interactions and friendships, I was able to describe and analyze my development as a global citizen interacting with people whose views on culture and everyday aspects are different than my own. These artifacts reflect upon my development of my global citizenship skills, and how I used them while here at Minnesota State University, Mankato and in my future career as a journalist.