Christopher Matias

03/07/2023
AP English P.05

Global Citizen Essay (2023):

During my years at ASGL, I have been able to better myself through the use of learner
profiles. One of the challenges I faced was being social with other people, which I was able to
overcome by developing my communicator skills and interacting with my peers through after
school clubs. ASGL has a clear mission in mind, and that is to prepare its students to be globally
competent citizens of the world. The vision is to teach students how the world works by giving
them actual experience through examples like after school clubs and the guiding principles,
which are prioritized at this school. I believe that to be a global citizen, one must be reflective, to
consider their own beliefs and the beliefs of others, and a good communicator, to be able to
express ideas with others.

Being a global citizen means that you are willing to be open minded to different ideas
and have conversations with all kinds of people while also being caring enough to show respect
when having discussions with people who disagree with you. A person that comes to mind is a
guy by the name of Alex O’ Connor, also known as “Cosmic Skeptic” online. O’ Connor is a
graduate of philosophy and theology from St. John’s college and Oxford university. O’ Connor is
an atheist and is the founder of the “Cosmic Skeptic” channel on YouTube. The reason I consider
him to be a global citizen is because he, while being an atheist, has conversations and debates
with other people who disagree with him like theist Michael Jones (Inspiring Philosophy) and
agnostic Joseph Schmid (Majesty of Reason) while still being respectful and open minded with
his opponents.

I am becoming a better global citizen through the help of a debate club at ASGL. As I
mentioned, one of the biggest struggles I faced was being timid. I didn’t talk with a lot of people
and this caused me to be in my own bubble with my own thoughts. I met some amazing people at
this school and it led to me joining after school clubs. A few months ago at the time of this essay,
I joined an after school club that specifically focuses on debating hot topics around the world.

This club has caused me to be more knowledgeable about the different positions people
have and why they have them. The debates at this club have caused me to be a thinker when
formulating arguments against my opponents, since I have to process information and provide
evidence in my arguments. With all this in mind, I am becoming a better global citizen by being
reflective of my own beliefs and being open minded when heading into a debate with my peers.
 One way I will be a better contributor on the global stage is by developing my
knowledgeable skills. I will develop my knowledgeable skills by educating myself more and by
listening to different types of people. Another way I will be a better contributor is by developing
inquirer skills. I will develop inquirer skills by asking questions when I find a topic interesting
or when I need to do research on a project. I hope to talk with different people around the world,
which would also help me develop many more different learner profiles skills.

I believe global competency is something that students around the world should practice
because it will expose them to different arguments and positions people have. Being a global
citizen requires wanting to be curious and reflective about one’s own positions and ideas. It is
essential to my generation because misunderstandings are the cause of ignorance. If we want to
be more educated, then we must practice being more open minded with all kinds of people and
being a good communicator to have important discussions. Without any of these qualities,
ignorance will roam around the earth for a long time.