HS Graduation Date: May 2024
Intended College: University of Northern Iowa
Major: Communication Theater Teaching Major
Career Goal: Secondary Education or College Theater Teacher
When first starting a puzzle, the task seems daunting, as a thousand uniform pieces lay in a jumbled pile. However, the light is ignited once that first illusive piece is snapped into place. The feeling grows, and you start to see the end result take shape. Still unsure how and when it will turn out, you keep putting the small pieces into place, moving towards your goal. All of these seemingly tiny pieces ultimately play a vital role in the grand outcome.
By applying this puzzle analogy to our lives, we can start to see how the idea of putting small pieces into place, so as to reach the goal of accomplishing something bigger for the larger good around us, is an important concept for us to integrate into our daily lives. “Thinking globally, acting locally” positively affects the communities we live in every day and eventually the global community that is far outside of our daily lives. This important concept of small actions locally can end up radiating into larger, global movements. Only by being brave enough to take the seemingly insignificant steps daily can we avoid becoming overwhelmed and paralyzed to act at all.
The concept of “thinking globally” when trying to solve an issue facing our world means that you have to be selfless, open to new ideas, consider other points of views, and realize that valuable information exists beyond your own limited bubble. This ties in with the “acting locally” piece, as this is the framework that will propel your movement forward. Your actions in isolation are a starting point, but they will need to create more actions by others in order to create the momentum to make a larger global impact.
The concept that I most closely associate with “thinking globally, acting locally” is the environmental crisis that our planet is currently facing. Anthropologist Jane Goodall emphasized that the phrase should really be turned around to be “think locally, and then you have the courage to act globally.” She stressed that it’s important to not get overloaded with the global picture or you might not have the energy to undertake any actions at all. Given all the environmental concerns we have from pollution to deforestation to loss of biodiversity, it is within the control of each of us to imperatively take local steps to combat these crises. Use less resources. Clean up litter. Volunteer with a particular mission. These will all make a positive difference and an impact on the world around us.
People need to step back and understand that they are making a local impact every day – good or bad – even without realizing it. I challenge you to start your local effort today, even if it is just asking yourself these three simple questions put forth by Jane Goodall every time you need to make a purchase: “Did it harm animals?”, “Did it harm the environment?”, “Is it cheap because of unfair wages or labor?”. If you and others try to live locally by these standards, globally, we will start to see a wonderful environmental movement worldwide.
“Thinking globally, acting locally” can be the answer to so many of our world’s problems. Individually, we need to realize that we can make a difference in our world. Some of the simplest local steps can create the biggest global transformations. Start your impact today locally!
