Is Becoming a Global Citizen Plausible?

“What is a Global Citizen?” This question has been dancing in my head all week long. We have been talking about this topic extensively in our ASTU classes, but I am not sure what to think of it. Being in the “Global Citizens” CAP stream, it was a rather obvious question that needed to be answered, but the more I think about it, the more confused and lost I get.

So what is a “Global Citizen”? I found the question itself to be pretty straightforward. We had a discussion thread on the Connect site, and many of my fellow students shared their thoughts. The answers were diverse, but the consensus of the group’s opinion seemed to focus on two aspects: having “global awareness” and “global perspective”. I shared similar thoughts as them on the thread. I believe, too, that these two qualities are must-haves when trying to become a global citizen.

But as I kept on thinking about this topic, this feeling that becoming a “Global Citizen” is not a plausible feat to accomplish started to develop in my mind – that is, if the criteria of being one include those two things – and I do believe that those are two essential criteria in becoming one.

To me, if it is necessary for a person to understand the perspectives and cultures from all parts of the world, it is going to take that person a lifetime trying to achieve that. It is one thing to learn “cultures” and “perspectives” of other parts of the world at school, sure, but that knowledge comes with biases and misunderstandings of some level. This is unavoidable. To me, in order to gain real cultural understandings and perspectives, you must live in that part of the world for some period of time, and have direct interactions with the culture, the people, and the problems that lie within that society. I am making this argument from my own experiences.

I am mixed (half Japanese, half American), and lived most of my life in Japan. However, when I was younger, I always regarded myself as an American kid. I always heard stories from my American father, watched American TV shows, and tried to immerse myself into “American culture” as much as I could. I took my American side very seriously, and tried hard not to lose it. At one point in my life this even led me to an identity crisis. I could not relate to my peers at school, because our interests were completely antithetical. I was that much devoted to my American side. But here’s the thing: at that point, I never lived in America. When I was 11 years old, for the first time in my life, I went to America and lived there: that was when I realized how much of a different, false perception I was gaining through not actually living there.

Me living in America made me realize how important it is to have direct, first-hand contact with any culture in order to gain real perspective. I also realized how much my peers in Japan, no matter how much I thought of them as different people, ultimately had huge influences in who I am and what I do; all because I lived there and interacted with them directly. Going back to what we are currently doing in ASTU class, I found Shazad’s essay on “Interpretative Communities” very relatable. Those who were around me, without me knowing it, deeply influenced what I remember and shaped who I am today. This is why I believe it is very difficult to become a “Global Citizen” without living in every part of the world, and interacting with people from every part of the world.

That being said, I believe it is a very positive notion to have the idea of trying to become a “Global Citizen”. It may be an extremely difficult task to achieve, but I think UBC students have a great chance in doing so, with so many people from so many backgrounds coming to study here. It certainly is not the same experience as actually living there, but learning and interacting with people from all around the world is definitely a great place to start!

Works cited:

Connect site: What is a Global Citizen?    https://connect.ubc.ca/webapps/discussionboard/do/forum?action=list_threads&nav=discussion_board_entry&course_id=_75710_1&conf_id=_212718_1&forum_id=_279920_1

Shahzad essay on “Interpretative Communities”   http://search.proquest.com/docview/903202568?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=14656