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Marilyn Luna

Mr. Colon

Portfolio Essay

Global Citizenship

The vision statement of the Ambassador School of Global Leadership which is to prepare

students to become college and career-ready and globally competent has helped us be prepared

for the next step which is college, develop global awareness by discussing global issues, and

represent a different country at every principal talk. The mission statement which is an awareness

of how the world works through extensive exposure and participation in international discourse

has helped us gain a different perspective of countries around the world to develop an

interconnected world. My experience at ASGL for the past seven years has helped me shape

myself and others as better citizens of the world with its mission & visions toward its students.

The guiding principles have helped me become a better person by developing an open-minded

mindset. Working with other students has provided me with the opportunity to use IB learners as

open-minded by listening to different views and perspectives. ASGL’s goal through its mission

statement is to create professionalism towards students to prepare us for college.

At ASGL we get the opportunities to expand our horizons by providing us with

knowledge on different countries and giving us the chance to experience different language

classes. I got the chance to learn Tagalog during my junior year which in a way I felt like I was

able to learn so much about Filipino culture and realized that it’s very similar to mine. A way

that I was able to use Tagalog outside of school was by communicating with the nun at my local
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church since she speaks Tagalog and was able to connect with her more which made me feel

proud. I’m glad that ASGL offers foreign language classes because it lets me see a different

perspective on my friends who are Filipino, with Tagalog class I was able to see why they are the

way that they are based on their background.

Being part of this school for almost seven years has made me feel at home since I’ve

been at RFK since elementary school. I’ve developed great relationships with some of my

teachers and all of them encourage me as a student to do well and to keep a positive mindset. The

staff at ASGL makes me feel like I'm important and that I should always strive for my goals.

Creating tight bonds with the staff has shaped me to develop myself into becoming a better

student so that one day I could do something good for my community. With that, I would become

a better citizen of the world just as ASGL has reminded and taught us to become as we get older.

I consider ASGL as an identity because I’ve grown as a person based on the values and guiding

principles that are taught here.

Some students from other academies at RFK ask me why we follow the IB Learner

profiles and ATL skills at ASGL thinking that we won’t use them in the future. The reality is that

every single day we use them even though we don’t realize it at the moment. They help navigate

us when we struggle at school, sometimes when we receive bad grades we have to reflect on

them and think of solutions on how to raise our grades back up which is an example of us using

the skills at the moment because we’re reflecting. During college, I'm planning on majoring in

Business Administration because I enjoy doing math, although I know that I procrastinate a lot I
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will have to use time management and organization skills to create a schedule that would

perfectly fit around me.

I believe that the actions of a person are what makes someone a global citizen, in my

eyes I believe that my mother is a good example of being a global leader. My mom became a

risk-taker the moment she decided to come to this country at the age of twenty-one with my

brother and no money to her name. She restarted her life in the U.S. by working two jobs and on

top of that providing for my brother. Growing up my mom has always told me to value

everything that I have around me. As a child, she wasn't able to have nice things because she had

to start working at the age of six. It makes me proud to have a mother like her because she

inspires me to do better. She always incorporates caring into her life, she's always there for

anyone who needs her and has helped so many people who have gone through financial issues by

providing them with small jobs at her work. The way that my mom contributes to our community

is by donating money to the Children's Hospital, donating to those in need, and also helping

some of my friends' parents whenever they're in need. Even if I don't get to see her as much

because she's always at work or I'm always at school, I still like the fact that she provides for me

and is always there for me whenever I need her.

Becoming a global citizen around the world or even in your community comes with a lot

of responsibility which ASGL has prepared us for throughout school. ASGL has taught us to be

the prime examples of leadership towards our peers and under classmates. Together we could

make our school a better place if we all follow the IB learners and ATL Skills because they help
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us navigate throughout our lives in the future. Overall, ASGL’s mission and vision along with the

guiding principles will always follow us throughout our future and college career.