When I was a child, I used to think that when people said their one wish was “world peace,” that they were weird for not just wanting to own a castle or a horse or something material. I had no understanding that there were problems in the world, because I was privileged enough to believe that. As I’ve grown up, my biggest wish has turned to being world peace. Not only a lack of war or violence at state levels, but a lack of war or violence at personal levels and internally as well. In working towards granting my biggest wish, I find it necessary to be a global citizen scholar and work towards solutions myself with my communities, rather than sit around and hope a genie comes to grant it to me.
 A global citizen scholar is one that studies global issues in order to develop plans to reform, fix, or abolish them. A global citizen scholar thinks critically, taking nothing at the surface level. A global citizen scholar is mindful and self-aware that every action they take, every step towards progress, those actions affect more than themselves. A global citizen scholar is not afraid of change, they do not back down from a challenge, and difficulties encourage them only to do more, not to say that there is no solution. When one of top 5 CliftonStrengths is futuristic, you can bet that I will always be working towards a better future.
This year, I have done many things both in my professional, personal, and academic life to work towards being my definition of a global citizen scholar. I began working at the UC CRC as a certified personal trainer, I took classes that helped expand my mindset, I invested time in mindfulness/meditation/journaling, I landed another co-op, I began to do light study on spirituality, I picked up a philosophy minor, I work everyday to tackle racism in interpersonal and systemic levels.
These things connect to my academic and professional goals because they are directly related. My academic and professional goals will always be to lack apathy, encourage change, and improve understanding. The world is full of unknowns. This lack of knowledge encourages many people to say that it is impossible to have knowledge, therefore we should not try. I will never take on that idea. The lack of knowing things is what drives me to constantly be learning. On my About page, at the bottom I state a lot of things I’d be interested in learning about if I had all the time in the world.
I became a personal trainer in order to better understand health and fitness for myself, and then how to help others have the same understanding. I took English Composition because it was required, but it also developed my critical thinking skills more than it developed my writing or reading skills. I began looking into spirituality and journaling to better understand my own understanding of myself and the world. I worked hard to interview with companies that I thought have a big influence on the world so that they could use the influence for good, rather than using it in self-interest. I began studying philosophy to understand what exactly “knowledge” is, if it’s possible, and to help me understand where I lie in regards to moral theories and applied ethics. I work to tackle racism because we all contribute to it, even if we think we are being neutral, and the presence of racism affects academics and professionals, whether people acknowledge it or not.
Next year, I will continue everything I’ve been doing. It may be seen as spreading myself too thin, but the thing is that all of my endeavors are connected, they can never standalone. Especially in regards to philosophy/morality, racism, critical thinking, and self-awareness, the more we acknowledge these things in every action and every presence, the more we are able to take control of our lives and the world around us to make better change. I am very excited to continue my work as a personal trainer, because it empowers me to know that I am helping people to be the best versions of themselves. I am excited to continue my philosophy minor, where I can work to understand perspectives beyond my own (though that does not mean I will agree with them or find them valid). I am excited to continue on my mindfulness journey, because how I exist at a personal level directly contributes to my activism. The only thing I am not excited about is the need to continue to fight for equality. I cannot be excited about being an activist. I am angry about the fact that I have to be an activist. But this anger must always push me to do more, not push me to apathy. I organize within my community by doing research, formulating demands, having conversations, and protesting until the demands are met. While I am not at all excited by the need to do this nor by the fact that activism is a long-term commitment, what is empowering about this action is the amount of people that work with me, and that when we succeed, the world will be a better place.
To be a global citizen scholar means solving the world’s most complex problems, and while I cannot tackle every problem that exists in the world, I can do everything in my power to do what I can. I do not back down from a challenge, I stay mindful of my actions and words, I think critically, and I do work in hopes of accomplishing success in my lifetime. Things seem so trivial and small, but to me, I’m working to be a global citizen scholar in every action and step I take, even if other people do not understand how. No matter how small an action or goal seems, all contribute to my biggest wish of world peace, interpersonal peace, and internal peace. This wish is present in my academics, in my professional life, and in my personal life.