Global Engagement

Being globally engaged is a topic that should be openly talked about more within our schools, social circles, and the world. It is vital for communities to discuss what they can do to help, not only on a local but global scale as well. It should be a goal for everyone to know more about the world and to have a better understanding of what goes on outside of their neighborhood, city, state, and even country.

Whether we realize it or not we are faced with global engagement every day. That is why Bud Rock, Vice President for Global Engagement at Arizona State University stated that “Being globally engaged is really not an option at all. It’s a reality in your life.” It is apart of our everyday lives whether we chose it to be or not.

It is very simple for a person to become globally engaged and get a better understanding of the world. You do no have to do something as drastic as visit a poverty stricken area in a foreign area. An individual can start out by going to a cultural even within his/her community, watch a foreign film, visit a foreign restraunt, or even join ASU’s Study Abroad Program. This program gives you the ability to visit Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, North America, and Oceania.

To learn more about how to become more globally engaged you can visit the ASU Office of the Vice President for Global Engagement at http://www.asuhttp://www.asu.edu/global.edu/global, the ASU international Programs Office at http://ipo.asu.edu/, and the Summer/Winter Study Abroad Programs at http://www.asu.edu/ssc/abroad.

Diversity

 

Diversity is a great way to engage in the world around us and see how many different variations of human beings there are.  Diversity offers so many benefits. Diversity gives exposure to knowledge that we wouldn’t have known if we knew only one type of person. With diversity we are exposed to new beliefs, ideas, and ways of life. Diversity allows humans to understand different points of view aside from their own. When you see the bigger world around you, you have more of an understanding overall. Being engaged with diverse people only enhances your knowledge. Diversity in the world around us is ideal. In a University setting diversity can be found in every classroom at every campus. Arizona State University supports diversity and excellence in every person.

Diversity is not just about different cultures or races. Diversity is in our age, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, class, ableness, etc. When people of different cultures come together everybody learns something new. Different ages have a vast pool of information to share with one another. Different genders offer different feelings and viewpoints on many topics of discussion. When different religions come together there is sure to be information shared that is new to both sides. Diversity allows people to experience and learn in ways that only diversity can offer.

President Michael Crow of ASU has said, “We have to learn how to communicate and teach between all ethnic and cultural perspectives.  Not with a dominant cultural perspective and marginal alternative cultural perspectives, but across all of these.” 

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a hot topic today in society, especially with our generation. The world is calling for more and more people to be creative, think outside the box, and turn problems into opportunities. There are many areas an individual can become an entrepreneur; entrepreneurship is not just in the business world but in all areas or society. Such as politics, sports, sciences, agriculture, and art just to name a few. Three key traits that will drive a person toward entrepreneurship are vision, intelligence, and ambition.

To be a successful entrepreneur you have to have vision. You have to be an individual that isn’t close minded and thinks outside the box. A great entrepreneur sees opportunities in everything and is always looking to improve or enhance the world around them. Bill Hybels stated that “Visionary people face the same problems everyone else’s faces; but rather than get paralyzed by their problems, visionaries immediately commit themselves to find a solution.” Therefore visionaries are proactive in their thinking and take immediate action; a very successful trait of an entrepreneur.

To have intelligence is another great characteristic of being an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur exhibits intelligence through their intellectual thinking and curiosity. He/she always needs to be investigating new ways to improve an idea or find a solution to a problem. In addition entrepreneurs also need to long and short-term planners so they can always be looking for new ways to accomplish his/her vision.

Ambition is what ties all these traits together. Every entrepreneur has to believe that he/she can do something better than before or else he/she is going to be very successful. They have to have a sense of urgency and with that typically accompanies the ambitious feelings of an entrepreneur. They always have to have a strong desire to get things done and to do it now not later. This desire comes from believing so strongly into what they are trying to accomplish; a true key to success.

These are not the only characteristics of an entrepreneur. But these are some of the traits that will separate the people that think they can become one from the ones that will actually fulfill their dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

Suceeding at ASU

All our years of school up to graduation from high school are to prepare us for college. If you are fortunate enough to attend college there are many skills you will need to be successful. College is completely different from high school. There is not structure, no schedule, no rules, no dress code, etc. in college; you are on your own once you step foot on campus. That is why in order to be successful at ASU you need learn how to manager your time, be organized, and be dedicated.
For a lot of people it is hard for them to manager their time efficiently. For others managing their time comes natural because they are used to being on schedule. That is why a key to success at ASU is learning how to manager your time. As stated by Kelci Lynn “Within the first few days of starting college, many students quickly learn that managing their time is one of the most challenging -- and difficult -- aspects of being in school. With so much to do and keep track of, strong time management skills can make all the difference.” So to truly be successful at ASU time management is a skill that you have to master early in your college career in order to be successful.
To be organized in college is a vital aspect of succeeding at ASU. College isn’t like high school and elementary school were you get repeated reminders of the assignments that are due, you can still turn in late assignments or you get excused from a worksheet because you were sick that day. You have to be on the ball and know when every assignment is due. So to have your priorities in order will ensure you to get your assignments and projects done on time. A great tool to use in order to be organized and get assignments done one time is an agenda or planner. Every day you write down what your assignments are given that day on your planner as a reminder for later; in order for you to know what you have to get done in case you forget.
Out of all the skills you can obtain while attending college the source of all your success comes from your own dedication. Not just dedication to your education but to yourself also. You knew very well that once you signed up for college courses it was not going to be a walk in the park. You were going to have to work hard to get the grades you wanted. It is imperative that you do not give up, push yourself every day, and think of college as a commitment that you made to yourself. You started; now all you have to do is dedicate yourself to finish!
To have the ability to be organized, manage your time and be dedicated to your education is an solid step to success at ASU.

Sustainability

Sustainability is critical to the preservation of our planet. It is something we as a human race need to take into consideration. We know that our resources are limited and our carbon footprint is increasing every day. So in order for us to conserver our planet we as individuals need start taking eco friendly steps toward a more conservative Earth.

We all know that there is a race in the automobile industry to see who can make the most eco friendly vehicle from the hybrid, to the ethanol fuel car, biodiesel, cars that run off solar power, natural gas, and even electricity (battery operated). This is all due to try and decrease our dependency on crude oil or as some may call it “black gold”. US citizens especially know what it is like to be dependent on oil and it is because of oil that we are burning more fossil fuels today then every before. Just take into consideration the amount of automobiles there are on every surface street and highway everyday in the US alone. As stated in The Physics Factbook in the year 1900 there were 8,000 vehicles in the world. Close to a century later in 1997 the number of vehicles on the road was 600,000,000. Due to this drastic number of vehicles on the road the amount of carbon dioxide put into the air daily is an astonishing number. Also due to this human addiction to oil in our planet is now showing signs of global warming in Antarctica, the Arctic, and Greenland. And this doesn’t even talk about all the oil refineries, trucking companies, power plants, mines, etc that leave their carbon footprint on our planet as well.

But studies have show that if we continue this trend of all these automobiles on the road there will be 1,200,000,000 by the year 2030 says The Physics Factbook; an astounding number that will have great impact on our planet in a negative way.

However due to our more public urgency of sustainability in recent years there are more and more advances in technology that can lead us as a human race in the right path toward being more eco friendly. All of these advances are our hope to slowly stop the increasing of our carbon footprint on the world so we can start seeing a decrease in the very near future

Academic Integrity

You may have been able to get away with cheating on a spelling test in elementary school or use an essay from a friend for English class in high school, but at ASU West these such actions are not tolerated. As soon as you become a student of ASU you are required to follow the code of conduct. Meaning that you are responsible to know the policy of Academic Integrity and must follow it through your entire involvement as a student at ASU.

A great way to keep students from cheating while at ASU is to inform them of the consequences and seriousness of the Academic Integrity policy. These consequences can either be short term or long term depending on the severity of the offence. The penalty may vary from redoing and assignment, failing the course or receive and XE meaning- failure due to academic dishonesty. If and XE appears on your transcript it hinders you from various opportunities. As stated in the Academic Integrity video by Leslie Shell and Joe Bunker “ While you are in college a designation of XE would keep you from participating in extracurricular activities like student clubs” and “The University views the XE grade designation very seriously. Keep in mind that such a designation on your transcript may only be removed by petition and on a decision from the dean or director of your program.” So as you can see from the quotes stated by Leslie and Joe cheating is not permitted at all at ASU and if you are caught it will stay with you throughout all the years you decide to attend college.

There have been many studies been done to prove that cheating doesn’t pay off and only hurts you at the high school level and the university level. One of these studies was recently reported in the book, Psychology of Academic Cheating, stated that 67 percent of all high school students that had no experience cheating at the high school level never cheated at the university level. So by practicing good academic integrity at a young age it can help you through your university education and even later on in life.

Academic integrity is all about having respect for yourself. Cheating gets no one anywhere in life and only impairs them from their ability to be a better person in the long run. So if an individual wants to be a successful student at ASU they need to stay academically honest and follow the Academic Integrity policy.