2019 Global Citizen Award Recipients Foster Global Community

Vivianne Asturizaga and Allison Lang received the Center for Global Engagement’s 2019 Global Citizen Award at FSU’s Leadership Awards Night held on April 9. 

These exemplary FSU students, nominated for this prestigious award by FSU faculty and staff, were selected out of a competitive pool of 30 nominees. Both of them have made significant contributions toward fostering global understanding on campus, in the community, and abroad. 

Vivianne Asturizaga

Vivianne Asturizaga, a doctoral student from Bolivia studying musicology, has used her boundless energy and passion for sharing her culture to foster intercultural connections between students and music organizations at FSU and around the world. Through music, Vivianne brings the culture of Bolivia and other Latin American countries to FSU and Tallahassee. As the leader of FSU's Andean Ensemble, Vivianne teaches students how to play instruments and music from the South American Central Andes. As an active student leader on campus, Vivianne is very involved with the Hispanic Graduate Student Organization (HIGSA), welcoming and supporting incoming Latin American students and sharing Hispanic culture. She has served as president and helped create the first FSU Hispanic Film Festival, Cinehasse, as a way to share Hispanic culture with the campus and community. In addition, she has been very active with the Congress of Graduate Students (COGS), serving in several different roles and always advocating for international students. She also served as a member of the CGE's International Student Advisory Board, and she has co-facilitated Social Justice Ally Training through The Center for Leadership and Social Change. 

"I am honored and humbled to accept this award at the ceremony and to join past recipients who have contributed to our FSU global community in multiple and admirable ways," Vivianne said. "I am also thrilled to hear I am a part of a greater group of amazing individuals who are thinking globally on campus and beyond." 

She has already earned multiple degrees from FSU, including graduate degrees in Spanish, Arts Administration, Flute and Musicology. She has been named a PIE Teaching Associate and has also received the Legacy Fellowship. In 2015, Vivianne used a summer Moellership Fellowship to create a music program workshop for students in Bolivia, called "SOS! Let's Play Some Music: Recorder" for underprivileged children. In addition, she has maximized connections made while at FSU to foster music education and opportunities in her home country. She created a music exchange for FSU faculty and musicians in Bolivia. She also enabled and facilitated an exchange between the National Orchestra of Bolivia and FSU’s University Orchestra; four Bolivian musicians, a string quartet from the orchestra, came here to observe and learn from the FSU students and teachers. They performed Bolivian music and had a reception with FSU faculty and students afterward. Additionally, she co-founded Silverlining Flutes, a flute group that engaged in cultural exchange and outreach in Costa Rica. 

Vivianne is currently a part of the 2019 Global Leadership Program cohort comprised of 40 rising change-makers in music selected among the most promising emerging talents around the world with whom she did a service trip to Chile. She will be going to South East Asia with the cohort during the summer. Vivianne is also a part of Cincopando ensemble; beginning in May the ensemble will be doing an east coast tour sharing Latin American music. 

Allison Lang

Allison Lang, a senior studying political science and international affairs, has supported international students and internationalization initiatives at FSU since arriving in fall 2015. In addition to working on the Center for Global Engagement's intercultural programming team, supporting international students upon arrival at orientation and throughout the academic school year, and serving as the Global Ambassador Program coordinator, she has served as a mentor in the Global Nole program, providing incoming Global Exchange students with a real glimpse into her life as an American college student. She has participated in a range of English tutoring activities, including serving as a Conversation Partner at the Center for Intensive English Studies (CIES) since 2016, serving as an English Conversation Club tutor for the past four semesters, as well as an English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) tutor through the Migrant and Refugee Education Alliance organization throughout her undergraduate experience.

"It’s such an honor to receive this award; I’ve witnessed the incredible effects of past recipients’ achievements on campus and it’s very exciting to be recognized as part of that community,” Lang said. "To me, being a global citizen is a continuing experience; I love that I have learned so much about different cultures and backgrounds during my time at FSU, and I hope to always be an active participant in this regard."

Allison has also presented on international affairs topics at multiple conferences, including the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program's Undergraduate Research Symposium (2016) and the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (2016 and 2017). She will be defending her thesis titled "The Effects of U.S. Foreign Assistance on Recipient Countries' Economic Development" this semester. All of her undergraduate research focuses on studying the effectiveness of the U.S. Department of State. After graduation Allison will be working for the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs teaching English in South Korea on a Fulbright Award.

For more information about the Global Citizen Award, and to read about past recipients, please visit cge.fsu.edu/gca.