As much as I used to hear those words come reflection time at VISA during freshman and sophomore year, no one really gave us a set definition. Everyone had their own interpretation of the phrase as we heard time and time again through distinguished grad speeches at the end of the year. What these words mean to me is understanding the world and everything/one in it. To be globally competent you must be aware of not only what goes on in your own city or country, but a country across the world. You don't necessarily need to live in every country, speak every language, volunteer everywhere, or do anything so extreme. To be competent means really to understand and to do so you must be AWARE.
Enough of my rant though, this post is really geared toward actually participating in my global community. I don't want to limit myself to being in southern California surrounded by the latino/hispanic community. Not that I have anything against my community, but there is so much more out there that I want to see and experience. That's one of the reasons I chose to go to school on the east coast, and even across the pond for first semester.
My first item on this mini-list is to Study Abroad. Well Fall 2015 I'll be abroad in Madrid taking 17 units. I'll live with a local Madrilena with another American in order to fully immerse myself in Spanish culture before my return in December. This also takes care of item number 2: Live in Another Country.
Items number 3, 4, and 5: Learn Latin, Learn to Speak French, and Learn How to Speak Fluent Italian. Well, as you may know, I am in love with Italy. Everything about it is amazing, the history, the food, the language, it's all amazing. Of course I want to learn how to communicate in Italian! I have this text book that I was given, but honestly I can't learn like that; I need an in person teacher. Same with French, I want to speak "the language of love" just because it sounds so pretty. Both these languages stem from Latin. I know it's a dead language, but it's just so cool. It'd really help with vocabulary and other languages. That brings me to the final item on my list - Become a Polyglot. You may be wondering what this is, or maybe you've figured it out with all the context clues, well i'm gonna tell you anyway. A polyglot is a person who understands and/or speaks multiple languages (4+). I first learned about this from my mom's boss who speaks 7 languages (yes 7! :o) who told me it's really beneficial to communicate with so many people. I already speak english, spanish, and chinese (for now as long as i continue to practice). Which actually makes me want to add another item to this list: Have a Conversation with a Chinese Person in Chinese. I need to keep this language. I really enjoy it, and I'm good at it. Since the time Mr. Hudd said I read basically as good as he did, AND told me i should pursue it in college, I really wanted to continue learning. Especially since I want to return to China, I need to keep the Mandarin skills I have in order to talk to people. I want to be able to converse with as many people as possible in this world and learning languages is the best way.
Enough of my rant though, this post is really geared toward actually participating in my global community. I don't want to limit myself to being in southern California surrounded by the latino/hispanic community. Not that I have anything against my community, but there is so much more out there that I want to see and experience. That's one of the reasons I chose to go to school on the east coast, and even across the pond for first semester.
My first item on this mini-list is to Study Abroad. Well Fall 2015 I'll be abroad in Madrid taking 17 units. I'll live with a local Madrilena with another American in order to fully immerse myself in Spanish culture before my return in December. This also takes care of item number 2: Live in Another Country.Items number 3, 4, and 5: Learn Latin, Learn to Speak French, and Learn How to Speak Fluent Italian. Well, as you may know, I am in love with Italy. Everything about it is amazing, the history, the food, the language, it's all amazing. Of course I want to learn how to communicate in Italian! I have this text book that I was given, but honestly I can't learn like that; I need an in person teacher. Same with French, I want to speak "the language of love" just because it sounds so pretty. Both these languages stem from Latin. I know it's a dead language, but it's just so cool. It'd really help with vocabulary and other languages. That brings me to the final item on my list - Become a Polyglot. You may be wondering what this is, or maybe you've figured it out with all the context clues, well i'm gonna tell you anyway. A polyglot is a person who understands and/or speaks multiple languages (4+). I first learned about this from my mom's boss who speaks 7 languages (yes 7! :o) who told me it's really beneficial to communicate with so many people. I already speak english, spanish, and chinese (for now as long as i continue to practice). Which actually makes me want to add another item to this list: Have a Conversation with a Chinese Person in Chinese. I need to keep this language. I really enjoy it, and I'm good at it. Since the time Mr. Hudd said I read basically as good as he did, AND told me i should pursue it in college, I really wanted to continue learning. Especially since I want to return to China, I need to keep the Mandarin skills I have in order to talk to people. I want to be able to converse with as many people as possible in this world and learning languages is the best way.
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