TCU Freiburg & Vienna Study Abroad Blog

        Throughout my travels, as touched upon in my most recent blog, combined with the observations I have made during the past two weeks in Freiburg, Vienna, Strasbourg, Zurich, and Budapest, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about what it means to be a global citizen. Before this course, I likely would have defined a global citizen as someone who travels frequently, speaks multiple languages, or has lived in several countries. While those experiences certainly contribute to a global perspective, I now believe global citizenship is far more within reach than I once thought.           I interpret global citizenship to revolve around three key pillars including cultural awareness, adaptability, and taking action. Throughout my travels and coursework, I have seen these pillars manifest themselves in many different ways and in a variety of contexts. While no one perfectly embodies all three pillars all the time (except ...

  Global Citizenship   The Yoruba people of West Africa have a saying: ‘A single tree does not make a forest.’ I believe this proverb perfectly encapsulates what i t means to be a global citizen. Just as a forest is made up of many different trees and wildlife, our understanding of the world is shaped b y many different cultures and perspectives. A single experience cannot provide a complete understanding of the world.   In my opinion, a global citizen is someone who not only possesses knowledge of different people, cultures and issues, but also has a genuine passion for l earning about them. I believe Global citizenship is not set in stone, but a continuous process of curiosity and growth by enga ging with the developing world around us.   I would like to consider myself a global citizen because I am constantly seeking to understand and learn from other people whose experiences differ from my own. Having lived in both the United States and Nigeria...

  To me, being a global citizen means seeing myself as part of a larger community rather than just my own culture and home country. I think it also comes with a responsibility to everyone around the world as well as the understanding that we do impacts everyone. I would like to think I’m a global citizen however, I definitely have areas I can improve on and do in order to be a better global citizen. As mentioned before, I grew up with my foot in two different cultures as a child of immigrant parents from Mexico. My upbringing has allowed me to have a broader view of the world as well as made me aware of issues that go beyond the U.S. borders. For example, in Mexico, education is not required by law so poor children living in rural villages who typically don’t have access to proper public schools and can’t afford private school end up not having any kind of education at all. Additionally, femicide is a big issue not only in Mexico, but all around Latin America and it’s something tha...

  I think my view of global citizenship is shaped in many ways by my religious views. I find the teaching of my Church often encourages me to think about how my actions have global ramifications and about people suffering from oppression, poverty, and war. For me global citizenship really represents making decisions for yourself while keeping in mind how they impact other people. The US has significant reach as a global super power and as a result many of our luxuries can come at the expense of people across the globe. While I certainly believe it is impossible to fully eliminate any product that is complicit in injustice, I do believe there is importance in trying to be mindful of how my consumption impacts others.  I think by nature of being able to travel to other nations, and easily access news, media, and products, from other natures I am inherently a global citizen. Rather, my bigger question is the quality of citizenship. While I genuinely think I do a good job at b...

      Every time I travel to a new destination, I observe the locals and attempt to adopt their interactions. There was a time I went to Rome, and I visited family friends in their home. They offered us watermelon which was diced into large cubes. It was the most delicious watermelon I have ever had, and I still dream of it . T hey served the diced watermelon on plates and handed us a butter knife. I was confused, to say the least. What do I do with the butter knife? Well, I put it to the side and when I couldn't find any  forks, I sat there for a second waiting for someone else to make a move. Then I noticed it. The father of the family took the knife and stabbed the watermelon cube, plopping it delicately into his mouth. I was a bit skeptical about using a butter knife to eat watermelon, but I tried it. W hen i n Rome right?       A s a global citizen I attempt to learn about local culture and follow their lead. Inte...

     Being a global citizen is something we should all strive to be, especially as it is part of TCU's mission statement. We are called to be "responsible citizens in the global community" not only during our four years on campus, but throughout our lives. But what does it really mean to be a global citizen? I believe it means recognizing your place as a citizen of the world, regardless of international borders. A global citizen understands our deep interconnectedness and remains aware about a diverse range of global issues.      Personally, I don't consider myself a global citizen based on these ideals. I admit that I often fall victim to an individualistic mindset that prioritizes my own country. I see the many problems that currently exist within our borders and question why we should devote so many resources abroad when we have not solved our own challenges. That being said, I can still be a global citizen while wrestling with these questions. As long a...

  To me, a “global citizen” refers to someone who intentionally and frequently interacts with the global community. These interactions could occur through more obvious ways, like taking international trips or talking to people from other countries. These interactions, however, can also occur in other ways like watching international films, shopping from international brands, or learning another language. Thus I believe that a global citizen can be someone that has never travelled outside their hometown or talked in person to people from other places. That aforementioned person, however, might seek out international films, make online friends from other countries, and try foreign cuisines. In my view, that person is still a global citizen, because it's the effort put towards intentional worldview expansion that makes them a global citizen.      With that being said, I would consider myself a global citizen based on my own definition. I’m a global citizen because I do ...

               Travelling to three European countries encouraged me to challenge assumptions I held about the world that I had not fully recognized.  Before this trip, I did not fully consider how much of my perspective was shaped by growing up in the United States, a perspective that is centered around itself rather than the rest of the world. Visiting Freiburg, Zurich, and Vienna exposed me to  different ways  of living, different political conversations, and different relationships with consumption and sustainability. This experience pushed me to examine my own privilege and the limitations it places on how I understand global issues. In all three countries that we visited , the people in each country could speak English fluently. In the United States, most Americans might not know any other language besides English, so communicating with foreigners is  difficult and requires much more effort. At a souvenir shop I visit...