Dan Robles Martinez

AP English Literature
Period 5
Mr. Colon
Global Citizenship Essay

The Ambassador School of Global Leadership strives towards helping students become a better
version of themselves, to be someone that will challenge the world and themselves. A global citizen is
willing to make an impact that will affect many, whether it’s their community or world-wide. Our mission
is to ensure that students are capable of dealing with minuscule daily tasks to long-term challenges.
Acknowledging ASGL’s mission, students will have the opportunity and resources to become leaders and
have success in an interconnected world.

A global citizen is someone who is willing to acknowledge and bring awareness to a situation that
is affecting many lives, far and near. They are wiling to take a stand and try to change the outcome so that
people’s lives can take a turn for the better. Gerard Way, lead singer of the American rock band, My
Chemical Romance, formed the band because he saw the tragedy caused by the 9/11 attacks. They
decided to create music to express their emotions on the event with the realization that they only live
once. Gerard is a risk-taker, reflective, open-minded, and caring person. He decided to drop his internship
with Nickelodeon to form a band that would change many lives. They took a risk by dropping their
current career to follow another path without knowing if he’d make it or not. Most of his beginning songs,
especially the first album, was about him reflecting on the 9/11 attacks and how it had an affect on many
people. The lyrics would speak on his perspective and the overall experience he had during that time.
Even after the first album he’d still continue making songs related to the 9/11 subject. Following his first
album, he wrote songs and created albums that didn’t conform to current trends. There were many times
where they’d be asked in interviews what they thought of the LGBTQ+ community and he’d say that it
should be respected and that there is nothing wrong with one person loving another. He proceeded to
challenge social norms by kissing Frank, another MCR band member, on a couple of their live
performances. They are a caring person because they care for the well being of their fans and even the rest
of the band members, especially his brother Mikey, who was the bassist of the band. A song specifically,
“Brother,” which is one of his personal projects, was made about his worry and fear on an accident his
brother had. Another song he wrote, “Helena,” is about his grandmother who passed away while he was
on tour. He loved her dearly and the fact that he was not with her during her last moments, made them
decide to dedicate the first song in their second album to her. Gerard also cared dearly for their fan’s
wellbeing. An example is when there was a time in Mexico where emo people were getting bullied to the
point it would be physical, so when MCR had a tour in Mexico, they decided to address the situation and
did their best to help the bullying problem die down. Gerard Way is a person who is willing to help their
fandom and those close to them to make a positive impact.

As an ASGL student, I’ve been doing my best to become a more principled and knowledgeable
person. A global citizen is willing to learn more about their environment and as someone who is
constantly going to new places, I tend to learn the most I can while I’m there. Even if it’s a new
environment, I try to adapt and adjust to their methods while also trying to incorporate the skills I already
have. Before the pandemic occurred, I was a student who stressed so much about their academic success.
Any small error would make me doubt my knowledge. I came to realize that even though I wouldn’t get
perfect scores, it was important for me to realize that I tried my best. As long as a I knew that I studied
and out my entire effort into the assignment, I knew that the next time I would be able to do better. I have
set principled boundaries for myself. Academically, I told myself that as long as I knew I was studying for
an exam and did everything I can do for an assignment, I shouldn’t stress about a score. I can always
improve and ask for feedback. Using my personal knowledge and skills that I used in the outside world, I
have learned to fuse them with my academic strengths to get the most out of both. I look forward to
seeing how many more skills I will learn and how I will incorporate them to my current situations. In
hopes, of developing being a principled and knowledgeable person, I hope that in the future I have learned
more than I know now.

In the future, I hope to learn and improve my communication skills and risk taker skills. I have
not always been the best at communicating and I hope that I slowly learn to express my opinions and
thoughts without getting stressed and mixing up my words. As for being risk taker, I hope to take
advantage of more opportunities and getting out of my comfort zone. I believe that by making my circle
of friends bigger and forming new connections with new people outside of my field of interest, I will be
able to improve my communication skills. As I continue to improve these skills, I will be growing as a
person and helping those around me. Having the ability to expand my relationships with others will give
me the opportunity to have further connections with others and the confidence to present myself and work
to a larger audience. With these communication skills, there will be risks of talking to people I do not
know. In order to make a living out of my artwork, I will have to present them with my current and future
projects. These will need me to step out of my comfort zone and talk to new people and form these new
relationships to get my name out in the world.

Being a globally competent student would allow you to get out into the outside world and make a
name for yourself. It would give students the opportunity to learn new skills that they would be able to
incorporate into their daily lives, whether they use it or not. To become a leader, one should be willing to
create an impact on those around them. Be capable of teaching and learning a lesson to improve as a
person. Be willing to encounter small daily tasks to large, time-consuming projects.