Cerritos College kicked off “International Education Week,” which ran from Nov. 13 – 17, by holding a “Global Competency” lecture.

This was Cerritos College’s fourth year celebration and it was announced by Cerritos College Office of International Student Services.

The goal of this initiative is to promote programs that will prepare American students for a global environment and attract “future leaders” from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences.

Dr. John Haas, history professor was asked to share what he had learned on his trip to The Hague for the “Global Competency” lecture.

Kaylie Mira Flores, anthropology major and Vice President of the Global Studies Club attended the lecture.

She said, “I thought that it was interesting and that it raises a lot of awareness of what it means to be globally competent. With all of us being launched into a marketplace we need to have that understanding.”

As Vice President of the Global Studies Club she would like more students to get connected with the club, to get more people aware of what it means to be globally competent and to think on a more global scale, and to try to get more involved with the community.

She said that the club just got started this semester and they are in the process of trying to recruit more students and ask them what they would like to see from the club too.

Myles Scranton, psychology major, attended the lecture because Dr. Haas is his History 102 professor and the class time was at the same time the lecture was held.

He said, “I thought [the lecture] was informative. I learned more about what global compense would mean. That it’s more than just being globally aware. It’s more about your empathy towards other cultures.”

Dr. Haas confirmed that he had been asked to kick-off this year’s International Education Week and so he chose to shares his reflections on his recent trip to The Hague.

For his lecture he presents videos that he filmed himself speaking with peacemakers he had met while he was on his trip.

He said that one of the goals of the lecture was just to let people know what’s available on campus, which he suspected that most people didn’t know.

He also said, “There’s so much going on now in the global curriculum. Then the other thing was really hoping that students understand that it’s a tough world out there to get a job, people are competitive.”

He’s hoping that students will gain from the lecture is a need to be more active in global education.

He added, “What I’m hoping is that students really buy into the idea that global education is going to make them more employable.”

Dr. Haas hopes that in the future through global education students will become more self aware of what’s beyond the U.S.