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Global citizenship has gained increasing relevance in an era defined by rapid globalization, digital connectivity, and cross-cultural exchanges. But what does it really mean to be a global citizen? In this episode, we dive into the definition, significance, and everyday benefits of embracing a global mindset.
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[Music]
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hi this is Anita from the Dusty Roads
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podcast you know as part of the our blog
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A Bus on a Dusty Road and the Dusty
0:15
Roads podcast one of the things we say
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is about living your life as a global
0:20
citizen so today I want to talk a little
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bit about what does it mean to be a
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global citizen what exactly is when we
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say live your life as a global citizen
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what does it mean well at its core
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global citizenship refers to the
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awareness of the interconnectiveness of
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all people and the responsibility to
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contribute positively to the cultural
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community you know all of us are we're
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we have a national citizenship i happen
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to be American you know which is based
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upon that's our legal status that's my
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legal status is I hold a US passport but
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to be a global citizen means that you
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believe that you are you know more or
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less a citizen of the world which is
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very much what I believe because I have
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lived overseas for almost all my adult
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life in fact all my adult life I've
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lived overseas so I very much consider
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myself a global citizen a citizen of the
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world i have friends from all over the
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world global citizen recognizes that
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that the world's challenges climate
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change uh poverty social injustice and
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political instability require collective
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solutions so you know as a global
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citizen you're not only you know believe
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you know in the world but you're also an
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advocate for human rights you believe in
1:40
um you know engaging in global issues
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and you seek to bridge the cultural
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divides through understanding and
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cooperation and I think that's really
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the key there is that as a global
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citizen you're seeking to find a way how
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can we have more understanding how can
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we have more cooperation how can we as a
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world begin to understand each other
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more you might ask yourself well why
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does global citizenship matter in
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today's world and as I look at what's
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happening in the world today and I look
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at you know especially in my own country
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of America and many of the things which
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are happening there which I personally
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find extremely disturbing of what's
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happening there but I believe that there
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are some reasons why we need to all
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strive to be a global citizen first of
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all we have interconnected economies and
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societies whether we want to believe it
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or not the world is flat it was Thomas
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Freriedman who wrote that book called
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the world is flat many years ago and
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basically told how the internet would
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make the world flat and it's true you
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know now you can have friends from all
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over the world used to be before the
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internet where you didn't really you
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know have friends from you had friends
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from your own little community your own
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little life that you had around you
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those are kind of the people you know
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maybe people who came in to visit other
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people but now today you can have
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friends and know people from all over
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the world the world is interconnected
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And as a world we have global challenges
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for example one of the challenges we
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have is is of course climate change
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whether you believe or you don't believe
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in climate change you can see that the
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climate is changing around the world i
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myself grew up in Wisconsin and I
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remember when I was young and we I would
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go to school and it was cold all winter
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from October until April we had snow on
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the ground it was just the way that it
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is now today many times in December and
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um you know parts of January February
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the snow will melt or suddenly one day
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will be 70 degrees and the next day will
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be you know it could be cold or we'll
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have extreme cold weather followed by
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hotter unseasonally hot weather that is
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the whole effect of all the you know
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global ch changes I believe with global
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warming you know so you know as a as a
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world we have these global challenges
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it's kind of like what I heard heard
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recently on a US news station they were
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talking about you know some of the
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diseases going on the world and they
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said how disease knows no border i think
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we all saw that with co 19 you know with
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the corona virus we saw how it didn't
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really know a border and how it you know
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affected you know throughout the world
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infected all the borders that you know
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pandemics you humanitarian crisises
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climate change are all things that uh
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basically they don't know any borders
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they are global challenges as a global
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citizen we can basically help to foster
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cross-cultural understanding we can try
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to embrace diversity engage engage and
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learn other perspectives we can try to
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contribute to try to make the world a
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more peaceful place by promoting
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inclusivity and mutual respect we can be
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expanding personal and professional
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opportunities they can enjoy careers and
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educational advantages in a world that
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values cross-cultural competencies you
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know companies and organizations
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increasingly are seeking individuals or
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people who can basically be able to
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navigate diverse environments speak
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multiple languages and work effectively
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in international teams now I want to
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point this out because I've been over
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here long enough to realize that not
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everyone can do this i've seen many
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people come and you know live overseas
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and they just couldn't handle it or I've
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seen in many cases where the husband
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handled it thrived was doing really well
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the wife could not handle it in fact the
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wife was so scared and worried she just
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sat home all day and would do absolutely
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nothing completely froze in
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international setting there are many
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benefits of being a global citizen and I
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just want to talk about some of them one
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would be there's an enhanced cultural
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awareness and empathy you know as a
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global citizen you become more culture
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aware become more empathetic you maybe
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begin to enjoy and understand other
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cultures and you you you um see yourself
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as a global citizen that you want to be
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able to develop a deeper understanding
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of humanity's shared experiences you can
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have a broader educational and careers
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pro prospects as we mentioned before
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like you know companies might be looking
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for somebody who has some international
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perspective someone who can work on
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cross-cultural teams someone who can
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understand other teams greater social
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and political engagement being a global
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citizen encourages active participation
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in social and political issues whether
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through voting advocacy volunteerism
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global citizens can help shape policies
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that address pressing global concerns a
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global citizen be personal growth and
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self-discovery travel learning new
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languages engaging with diverse
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communities can lead to a personal
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transformation you know you can go to
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other countries and you don't come out
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the same that's what I've always said
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you can engage with people from other
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cultures and learn something new that
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could change your life or you know
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change your perspective on things that
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you once saw and realize that maybe it's
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not exactly the way I saw it it may
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actually be more this way being a global
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citizen can enhance your personal and
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professional growth and relationships so
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how do you become a global citizen what
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are some things that you can do well
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first of all you can educate yourself on
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global issues you know this is very
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important learn about global issues
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learn about the history uh the culture
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of a of a country society i'm a very big
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person on history i believe that we can
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learn a lot from history learn a new
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language or try to learn words of a new
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language learning a second or third
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language can improve not only your
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cognitive abilities but they can also
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help you with cross-cultural
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communication and
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appreciation travel with a purpose if
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you're going to go out and travel don't
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just say "I'm just going to go lie on
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the beach." each maybe travel with a
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purpose travel with an open mind um
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travel you know in a study abroad
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program a cultural exchange or
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volunteerism maybe this can help build a
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connection and a deeper understanding of
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the world engage in cross-cultural
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experiences you know even if
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international travel is not an option
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you can still learn about other
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countries and cultures and people and
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you can benefit from that you know one
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of one of my favorite magazines has
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always been the National Geographics you
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can learn so much about the world there
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and about other people places and
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cultures support global causes you know
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contribute to international charities uh
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support uh fair trade advocate for human
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rights can be a meaningful way to become
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a global citizen and this is even if you
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don't even leave your couch or your own
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home that you can still support global
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causes and be an advocate for this
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global world that we live in leverage
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digital connectivity for good you know
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be on social media digital platforms um
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you know share ideas raise awareness
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collaborate on global issues you know
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use technology responsibly to educate to
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inspire to empower um for change so you
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know being a global citizen is more than
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just a concept it's a mindset it and it
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doesn't really matter whether you travel
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or you don't travel i've said this many
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many times that being a global citizen
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doesn't mean that you necessally have to
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travel being a global citizen means that
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essentially that you are saying I care I
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care about people of the world i want to
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get to know people that are different
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than me i want to be a bridge and not a
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wall and I've talked about this many
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times of being a bridge that being a
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cultural bridge and not putting up a
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cultural wall instead saying "I want to
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get to know people from other cultures
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and to be able to understand them
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better." If you'd like to be able to
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learn more about what it means to be a
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global citizen I've written a blog post
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entitled "What does it mean to be a
9:57
global citizen definition and benefits."
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We'll put a link in the description so
10:02
that you'll be able to learn more and be
10:04
able to discover more about what it
10:06
means to be a global citizen we hope
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that you'll join with us in living your
10:10
life as a global citizen we'd love to
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have you subscribe and be part of our
10:16
community and we thank you for being
10:18
part of our community with us today
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[Music]
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