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What Does Being a Global Citizen Really Look Like Today?
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Apr 10, 2025
What does it truly mean to be a global citizen in our fast-changing, interconnected world? In this episode of Dusty Roads, Anita explores how global citizenship goes beyond travel—it’s about mindset, empathy, and shared responsibility. Global citizenship has gained increasing relevance in an era defined by rapid globalization, digital connectivity, and cross-cultural exchanges. Listen now to discover its meaning, why it matters, and how you can foster a more inclusive worldview—or click here (https://abusonadustyroad.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-global-citizen-definition-benefits/) to read more. #GlobalCitizen #CulturalAwareness #DigitalConnectivity #InclusiveWorldview #GlobalMindset #AnitaDustyRoads #DustyRoadsPodcast #CrossCulturalExchange Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/globaltradegal)
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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
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Roads podcast one of the things we say
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is about living your life as a global
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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
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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° and the next day will be you
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know it could be cold or we'll have
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extreme cold weather followed by hotter
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unseasonally hot weather that is the
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whole effect of all the you know global
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ch changes I believe with global warming
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you know so you know as a as a world we
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have these global challenges it's kind
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of like what I heard Recently on a US
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news station they were talking about you
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know some of the diseases going on the
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world and they said how disease knows no
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border I think we all saw that with co
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19 you know with corona virus we saw how
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it didn't really know a border and how
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it you know affected you know throughout
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the world infected all the borders and
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you know pandemics you humanitarian
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crisises climate change are all things
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that uh basically they don't know any
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borders they are global challenges as a
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global citizen Then we can basically
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help to foster cross-cultural
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understanding We can try to embrace
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diversity engage and learn other
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perspectives We can try to contribute to
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try to make the world a more peaceful
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place by promoting inclusivity and
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mutual respect We can be expanding
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personal and professional opportunities
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They can enjoy careers and educational
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advantages in a world that values
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cross-cultural competencies you know
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companies and organizations increasingly
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are seeking individuals or people who
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can basically be able to navigate
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diverse environments speak multiple
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languages and work effectively in
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international teams Now I want to point
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this out because I've been over here
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long enough to realize that not everyone
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can do this I've seen many people come
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and you know live overseas and they just
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couldn't handle it or I've seen in many
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cases where the husband handled it
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thrived was doing really well the wife
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could not handle it In fact the wife was
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so scared and worried she just sat home
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all day and would do absolutely nothing
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completely froze in international
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setting There are many benefits of being
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a global citizen and I just want to talk
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about some of them One would be there's
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an enhanced cultural awareness and
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empathy You know as a global citizen you
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become more culturally aware You become
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more empathetic you maybe begin to enjoy
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and understand other cultures and you
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you you um see yourself as a global
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citizen that you want to be able to
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develop a deeper understanding of
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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 can be personal growth
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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." Maybe travel with a purpose
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travel with an open mind Um travel you
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know in a study abroad program a
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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 Geographic 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
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global citizen Definition and benefits."
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We'll put a link in the description so
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that you'll be able to learn more and be
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able to discover more about what it
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means to be a global citizen We hope
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that you'll join with us in living your
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life as a global citizen We'd love to
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have you subscribe and be part of our
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community And we thank you for being
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part of our community with us today
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[Music]
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