Global Citizenship
My experience with achieving Global Citizenship and earning my Global Learning Medallion at FIU was nothing short of amazing. When I chose International Relations as my major, I aimed to understand the world as fully as possible and to broaden my horizons to its full potential. While my classes were my main source of knowledge, the activities I did through the Global Learning Medallion program were what took my knowledge over the edge. I have gained further experience and spoken first hand with many community and national leaders, especially from NGO's and Non Profit Organizations. My global perspective is expansive due to the amount of global learning courses I have taken such as:
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While I learned all sorts of theories to help my global awareness in a classroom, real hands on hands experiences happened through events hosted by the Global Learning Department. Events such as the Lunar New Year, Cultural Conversation, Film Screenings, Cafecito Chat and especially the Tuesday Times Roundtable discussions have served me in ways that classes alone could not.
Lunar New Year hosted at FIU
Courses Taken
CPO4057- Political Violence & Revolutions
-An examination of major historical instances and modern expressions of political violence; discussion of revolution from a comparative perspective. Attention will focus on the social origin and political determinants of such events.
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REL3308- Studies in World Religions
-Examines the origins, teachings, and practices of selected world religions.
INR3081 - Contemporary Problems in International Relations
- Examines selected world and regional issues and problems.
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INR4075- International Protection of Human Rights
-Development of the concern of the international community with the rights of individuals and groups and the institutional mechanisms which have been set up for their protection.
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CJE 4174- Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
-A comparative study of the major legal traditions (e.g., common law, civil law, socialist law) and analysis of the criminal justice system across the world, including police, courts, and corrections.
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Reflections
Global Perspective:
In the process of getting my Global Citizenship I have gained extensive views from different people on complex global issues. Growing up in Miami does provide an environment filled with different views and cultures, but the Global Learning department taught me to tackle these issues diplomatically and in depth. For example, in my International Protection of Human Right class, we had European students who provided their views on the migrant crisis. Some of these views did not align with the rest of the class. My professor then designed a debating assignment where we debated on the side we did not agree with in order to gain the knowledge of the opposite view. This was a difficult and complex assignment, to defend a point you did not believe, but it will always stick with me as a turning point in realizing the world is more than what I think it is.
Global Awareness:
One aspect that I believe has significantly affected my education has been migration. I originally chose to study international relations because I myself am an immigrant, but seeing how other parts of the world handle migrants and its connection to the U.S. and Miami in specific have fascinated me. Locally working with the Immigrant Resource Center has prepared me for any future work I choose to do with migrants, which I would hope to one day do in Europe. I have realized the connection that all migrants have in living a fulfilled life is full assimilation. I have learned specifically about political assimilation in my class on the Global Challenge of Refugees and Migrants, where I settled on the fact that without political assimilation, there cannot be social or economic assimilation and political assimilation cannot be fully achieved until citizenship is provided with for the migrant. Making this connection between local migrants and migrants around the world will impact all my future work.
Global Engagement:
Having as much knowledge to absorb as I have had through the GL department in the last 3 years, it was inevitable that I would want to take a part in making changes for a better future. Before Global Learning, I knew I wanted to make a change but did not know how. As is illustrated in my Topics of Interest tab, I have worked on several specific examples for policy making in Peru specifically, but that can be applied to other countries facing similar issues. Corruption, for example, has impeded development in many countries, some even first world. The usual cause for corruption is lack of accountability in the government. Through my Global Learning courses, I have developed systems to implement new departments into governments and even how to plan funding for them. This new procedural knowledge has taught me how to go in depth and how exactly take the steps in to making a change. This knowledge makes all the difference and has significantly prepared me to engage in the global stage.
Tuesday Times Roundtable
Reflections
I thought Ms.Simpson in this Tuesday Times Roundtable began well by explaining how the system has changed from the INS to a more detailed system including the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. I believe people dont realize some of the facts of the amount of power these programs have. For example, the fact that Customs and Border Protection has jurisdiction of the entirety of the southern border which is hundreds of miles, including the example she provided of CBP officers boarding Greyhound buses even though there is no border crossing with that company. I also did not know the different kinds of immigration applications that people are looking for asylum are completing. She explained family-based and employment immigration which is very interesting. What shocked me probably the most in this session, is when Ms.Simpson told us that when immigrants are taken to court, since it is civil law, you do not get automatically appointed a lawyer and must defend yourself to get one. I find this absolutely ridiculous since the majority of immigrants do not speak the language and have little to no education. The likelihood of an immigrant in that situation getting a lawyer or being provided asylum is slim to none. Lastly, I learned very much about the different kinds of immigrants in this Roundtable. What I found most interesting about the kinds of immigrants, is the fact that lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, can have their greencards taken away for a variety of reasons, whether they be past or recent, these people run the risk of having to once again live under the radar or go back to their home country.
First of all, I loved that Ms.Saenz in this Tuesday Times Roundtable referred to advocacy as a lifestyle. I agree with that statement completely. She also went into deep detail about how to transition into an advocacy lifestyle, she explained that you must find your passion and it must be something that you feel strongly about, something bigger than you that you won’t forget about in the next few months; next, she explained that you appearance and presence plays an important factor because you are always representing, she said that although you don’t alway have to be in business clothes, it is important to always look presentable and ready to practice your social skills; lastly, she made the point of the importance of networking for advocacy, she told us that if it wasn’t because of some of the people she got up and spoke to, then she would not have gotten certain opportunities. A strong point Ms.Saenz made was that although we might have big visions for our goals, it is important to know that we must start locally to reach the global level. Along with that, she also explained how we must escape our labels and be something bigger than what we ourselves are. Overall, I think Ms.Saenz gave great real-life lessons on how to participate and take a bigger role in advocacy, regardless of the goal you might be trying to reach. I enjoyed that she gave literal examples instead of only hypothetical ones and I will be sure to apply these pieces of advice to my own life.