Global Citizen

Catie Cangemi

Me, Myself, and I

My name is Catherine Cangemi. I was born in Mineola, New York and moved to Georgia when I was eight-years-old. I have always wanted to be a superhero. Okay, maybe not a superhero, but I do want to be a champion. A champion of understanding, mutual respect, and happiness.

How I Became Me

I have been interested in world cultures since my time living in New York. With so many people of other ethnicities and cultures surrounding me in my neighborhood, it was difficult not to be intrigued by the people, cultures, and languages. One would think moving to cow-country Georgia would make this interest go away, yet the relocation only strengthened my desire to learn about and understand other cultures. The longer I have been in Georgia, the more interested I have become in travel and language.

My Educational BreakthroughAs a New York child, I was exposed to the immense respect held for the fire and police departments. My mother, as a volunteer emergency medical technician for the local fire department, was required to frequent EMT training classes if she were to remain certified to treat patients. My first major moment in what I wanted to do was at one of these classes my mother had brought me along to. Around the age of four, I was brought to this EMT training class. Looking around the room, I saw people of all ethnicities and races shooting for the same target: taking care of people whose health was failing them. This led me to see that all people should be respected for where they come from because they want the same things that people like myself do. I knew from that point on that medicine was what I wanted to pursue.

Going Global

As more of the workforce heads into jobs dealing with economics and international business affairs, the most successful in these affairs will need to know how to speak the language of the country being dealt with. Higher education institutes, such as Texas Christian University, are taking on mission statements that promise their students will be “responsible citizens in the global community.” The career paths that drive students to international affairs are the paths that require not only another language to be spoken fluently, but also a mutual understanding and respect for culture.

H2O we going to do about it?

As a health aficionado, I am interested in disease and bringing simple fixes to end the most dastardly illnesses in impoverished areas. “The World Health Organization approximates that eighty percent of all sickness can be blamed on unsafe water” (Waterborne Diseases). Of these deaths, there are four million who pass away in Africa from diarrhea each year. Dozens of diseases are spread by water, and millions of lives can be saved from the horrid diseases with clean water available to the people of Africa. By providing impoverished, developing countries with the infrastructural resources that they need to be successful, such as clean water, the populace of those countries will, over time, be able to lead the rest of their country toward a new horizon of prosperity.

Get it? Water? What are?

Safe Water = Safe Haven

An increasing number of people will receive safe, clean water and survive childhood, for the diseases that once plagued their community will be fast disappearing. As a result they will continue on to schooling, and the populace of African countries will be able to provide solutions in order to lead their countries out of poverty. The children who were not supposed to survive will champion change, progression, and modernization, for they went to school and learned how to solve the problems they see family and neighbors go through. As time goes on, these impoverished countries will rise up from the ashes, become stable economically and governmentally and participate in global affairs such as the United Nations to continue making the world a better place.

The Education Brigade

Of course the aforementioned changes will not take place overnight or even within the span of a few years. It will take a multitude of time and effort. As one of the wealthiest nations in the world, I feel it is the duty of the United States citizens to raise awareness of these goings-on of other countries that need help. Throughout my own schooling, I have hardly heard of the battles impoverished people face daily, such as lack of clean water and faulty government planning. Yes, they have been mentioned, but never has one of my social studies teachers actually told us about the effects of the battles on the people of the regions we were studying. Educators of America, in response to this lack of information, should include a study of the current issues of regions that their classes are studying. By including the brief study of issues in the regions, students will be educated on what is happening in the world around them as well as what they can do to better the situations and improve the world they live in.

Heading Into the World

It seems as though all young adults desire the freedom that travel brings. I completely understand because I want to go out and explore, too. However, young adults will not be able to deliver an impact on the world they live in without an understanding as to what is taking place in other parts of it. With a greater emphasis on current issues in American schools by making Current Issues a required class rather than elective, United States citizens will be aware of world issues, such as a lack of clean water in African countries, and the ways to solve these issues. Young adults will know what they need to do to improve their world. They will be prepared for the world in front of them-- the one they wish to explore and better for generations to come.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” Mark 12:31From my perspective, being a global citizen means to keep an open mind to what is going on in the world around me and the people that inhabit it. Ultimately, all people want the same things: love and acceptance. How are the people of the world going to accept each other if they are unaware of the cultures and interactions surrounding them? Without a mutual understanding and respect of other cultures and the life-threatening issues that the people of those cultures face, then the world will remain stagnant; a place of closed-mindedness and disrespect. It needs to change, and it starts with us!

I Will Be

My name is Catie Cangemi. I go to Sequoyah High School in Canton, Georgia. I will be a champion of understanding, respect, and

happiness.

Works Cited

"Waterborne Diseases." Africa Needs Community

Development Corporation. Africa Needs CDC, 2014.

Web. 7 Nov. 2014. <http://africaneeds.org/issues-

solutions/waterborne-diseases/>.