I’ve never been one for stability and constants. Growing up, I got to live in lots of different places, and travel profusely. From Asia to Latin America to Europe, I’ve seen it all. So naturally, when the topic of choosing a university arose, I was conflicted. I could choose to go to the University of Toronto: close to home with my family and friends. I’d be in a secure place with my own bed, home cooked meals, and no need to do my own laundry. My other choice was to drop everything and go to the University of British Colombia. I would have to start from scratch; I’d be sleeping in a foreign bed, making my own food, and doing my own laundry… all by myself.
I guess it’s safe to say that you already know my decision. All my life I’ve longed for a constant, but when the time for one showed up, it didn’t feel like the right decision. There was no adventure, no danger and no fun in staying. Even though I knew that going to B.C. would be one of the most difficult and terrifying things I’ve done, I knew I had to give it a try. I didn’t realize that growing up with no constants meant that the thought of one would bore me.
Flash forward and I’m at the end of my second week of university. I’ve moved in, established my circle of close university friends, and read my Political Science textbook until my eyes bled. Everything was seemingly okay but until recently, there was still a part of me that wondered “what if?” Just like my Dad, I was scared that I chose UBC for all the wrong reasons. Did I want an adventure or did I just want a life without a curfew? Did I want more liberty of choice or did I want to eat ice cream for breakfast?
Friday, September 18th, 2015 was the day I finally realized why I chose UBC. That day, I had a group lecture with all my CAP professors on the topic of being a Global Citizen. My professors spoke specifically through their unique disciplines of Sociology, Political Science, and English. It talked about how each academic faction had its own opinions on what it meant to be a Global Citizen.
While all these lectures were going on, it finally dawned on me why I couldn’t have been content with any other university decision. It’s because of that very topic: Global Citizenship.
A Global Citizen is someone who is not only ready for change, but has a hand in making it happen.
If I were to sum up my 3 hour lecture last week down to one sentence, that would be it. Of course there are lots of different elements that go into being a Global Citizen, but the very gist of it is based on the premise that a Global Citizen cannot be one to play it safe. With so many ideologies to combat, a Global Citizen simply cannot be someone in the backseat.
It’s been a week since that lecture, and I’m now fully convinced that I have made the right decision. I’m surrounded by a foreign community, with foreign friends, and foreign professors… but I feel at home. I, in the cliché-est of terms, have expanded my horizons, just like a Global Citizen should.
Of course, a Global Citizen is a little bit more complicated than just being aware of world issues – any Model U.N. student can do that. A Global Citizen is someone who chooses to do something about those world issues. I’m positive that I would’ve gotten my fill of excitement and adventure living at home. However, to be a true Global Citizen, I think that adventure and excitement can never be outshined by fear.
Now, I’m not saying that moving away makes me a Global Citizen. (That idea is preposterous if anything.) In fact, I think I’ll become a genuine Global Citizen when I choose to do something while I’m here that makes the move worthwhile. I think that moving away was a step closer to becoming the type of person a Global Citizen might be. In my new home, I hope to find more than just adventure and excitement; I hope to find what it takes to be a Global Citizen.
And because everyone has their own opinions on Global Citizenship – this I saw through my Group Lecture – the video below is a more broad and less personal sense of what it takes to be a Global Citizen