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Mariah de Leon
February 21 2018
Global Citizenship Essay

The vision of Ambassador School of Global Leadership is to be able to raise awareness

about global issues, to make each student be a global leader, and to prepare us for our future. We

should be able to learn to communicate with people even with a language barrier. Being in this

school, I have learned to be a global leader to my classmates and people outside of school. It is

important to become a global leader because you are able to learn many things that occur in the

world. Anyone can become a global leader, as long as they: Take Action, Recognize

Perspectives, Communicate Ideas, or Investigate the World, which are known as the GPO’s. A

global leader can change the community, and possibly the world.

Being a global leader is necessary because we can be able to recognize the perspectives

of others and communicate with them. A person who is a global leader is Rigoberta Menchu

Tum. She is a political and human rights activist from Guatemala, who promoted indigenous

rights in the country. She worked with the Committee of the Peasant Union to allow basic rights

for the Mayan people, such as fair wages and protection of their land. When the Guatemalan

army had power, there was lots of war and violence in which 200,000 Guatemalans were killed.

The military were mainly against the Mayans - they destroyed about 450 Mayan villages and 1

million refugees. Due to the violence in Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu lost her parents, brothers,

sister in law, nieces and nephews. Rigoberta Menchu left to Mexico and was cared for by a

Catholic group. She then joined an international efforts and became a public speaker and

organizer to make the Guatemalan government put an end to the military activities of guerillas

against the Mayan peasants. In 1992, she won a Nobel Peace Prize for “recognition of her hard

work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of the
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indigenous peoples.” With the money she won, she used it to found a Mayan advocacy

organization called Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation. Rigoberta Menchu Tum is a global

leader because she did anything possible to fight for the rights of the Mayans, for equality and a

better future. Her story is now known worldwide, she fought for the rights of the Mayans and

because of that, their future is bright.

Coming to ASGL, I learned to communicate with many people, have made many friends

despite challenges we may face. Being in this school, I have improved in English and Spanish,

and have learned American sign language. I have mastered the GPO’s by helping others learn,

understanding the perspectives of others, helping my community, speaking out for others when

needed and had the opportunity to learn a new language. When people need help, they come to

me and I try to help them in anyway possible, it feels nice knowing that I am helping others learn

and that they can count on me. Being a global leader has helped me have an open mind and

because of that, I have been given many opportunities. I have visited many places with my

family and got to experience things that I won’t be able to experience here. Learning about the

GPO’s, I know that in my future/career I want to be able to help people.

Here in ASGL, I have learned about problems occurring all over the world.

Understanding the GPO’s will help me be a better contributor to the world because I have

learned to be open minded, and I have learned to communicate with others. I started high school

being really shy, but now I am not afraid to talk to people, make friends or give my opinion. If I

were to not have learned in a global way, then I would most likely be a shy, close minded, and a

self centered person. Also, I would not have known half of the things I do now.

Becoming globally competent is important to everyone because it teaches us that no

matter how big or small we are, we can be the change in our future. We can teach the generations
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to come to be the change they want to see in the world. When I went to Guatemala or other

places, I put together things that the Global Performance Outcomes have taught me. I would not

be able to know how to make a difference in the world or in someone's life, communicate with

someone, recognize others perspectives, or investigate the world. Being a global leader has

transformed me into the person I am today and will shape me into the person that I will be in the

future.