I learned that before I could improve my community and the world, I needed to improve myself first. 

 

     I started FIU eager to graduate and be done with homework assignments and papers to write and I left a global citizen eager to make a difference in the world and create both awareness and solutions to issues that negatively impact the daily lives of many people globally. Upon becoming a  Global Learning student I noticed that my intentions as an FIU student switched from strictly trying to graduate to trying to leave the university as a person that will make a positive impact on the world with new knowledge, skills, and tools I acquired to improve my community and the world at large.

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     The Global Learning courses I took throughout my two years at FIU help broaden my understanding of other people's culture and the impact that humans have on our planet. They helped me learn to better communicate with other people including those that may hold different beliefs than myself. They also showed me that our core principles, for the most part are all fundamentally the same, looking for a way to reduce suffering to make room for love. Additionally, my Environmental Ethics course helped me understand the different ways that humans are negatively affecting the world and the how and why behind the way we justify our actions. This understanding allowed me to identify areas in my life in which the morals I placed on myself did not reflect with my actions, showing me where I needed to grow.

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     The most impactful part of my Global Learning experience was definitely my study abroad program to the Bahamas for Yoga and Meditation and Spirituality development as it ignited in me a desire to make the world a better place. It allowed me to disconnect from my daily mundane life and re-emerge and re-discover myself as a global citizen who's action can affect a larger community than what I once thought. I finally started to truly realize and accept that my actions, positive and negative, affect they way I shaped my life and also affect the people and world around me. I decided that I should you the power of cause and affect of my actions to make a difference in the world. Since my time at the Sivannada yoga ashram I have visit another yoga ashram in the mountains of Colorado to continue my spiritual journey, self realization, and immersion into nature. While my path to enlightenment and becoming someone that could improve the world is a difficult task that I must pave for myself, I know that my step is to create awareness of global issues.

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     To begin creating awareness of an issue I hold close to me, the negative effects  consuming meat creates to nature, humans, and animals alike, I have started researching and writing several papers on this subject to show that if we truly love ourselves, our planet, our fewllow humans, and animals eating meat goes against our own morals. My capstone for the Global Learning Medallion consisted of conducting my own original research paper. This experience involved me consulting with various professors outside of class, utilizing the university's catalog and library for research, and interview members of different religious belief which aided in my skills of communication, research, and professional writing. Furthermore, I got to experience actual first hand condition of research which was a great preparation for graduate school. 
 

     My time as a Global Student helped me take everything I had learned about myself, academically, and what is involved in being a global citizen and put it in a much grander perspective. I learned that I can make a difference. I learned to speak up for myself, for others who's voices are not being heard, and for those who do not have a voice. My experience as a Global Student has made me eager to learn, grow, and be of service to my global community. 

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