My first day at my Ghanaian internship is officially complete, and I can definitely say that it was an experience I won’t soon forget.

Tuesday, which was also the Fourth of July, was the official first day of internships for everyone in the Media in Ghana program. Everyone, excluding the four students who were sick all night with extreme food poisoning, woke up early to prepare for the first day at our assigned internships. I woke up around 6:30 a.m. because I wanted to make sure I had enough time to mentally prepare for the day ahead. Leslie, Deb, Tom, Chris, and Juan Carlos all came to meet us at the house around 8 a.m. so they could drop everyone off to make sure we knew our internship’s location and what we were supposed to be doing.

Our last day of free breakfast was supposed to be at the house around 7 a.m., but it was not on time that day. I have to take my malaria medication with food in my stomach, so I chowed down a Cliff Bar, took my malaria pill, and proceeded to brush my teeth. Mid-brush I hear someone call from downstairs that breakfast had arrived. At this point, I knew that today was going to be anything but normal. Because breakfast was late we ended up leaving the house late, around 8:30 a.m. We left after we got the group together to take a “first day of internships” photo on the front porch.

After an insane amount of time sitting in traffic, I was the second student to be dropped off at my internship. I was headed to Emerge Advertising Ltd. and I was so excited and so nervous at the same time because I have never worked at an agency before and I have a lot to learn. I was lucky enough to be at the newest location, which was much closer to our house than the location in Osu. It did not ease my nerves that one of students from our group, Sam, who I was supposed to be working with, was one of the students who was very sick the night before. I had to do the first day on my own, but I knew I could do it because everyone else in the group was in the same situation and I had a great support system.

When we arrived at the building where my internship was located, Deb, Chris, and Tom walked me up to the eighth floor of this massive business building where I sat in the lobby and waited for my boss to arrive. Little did I know that I would be sitting there for the next hour and half only to be told that they were not ready to have me today and that I could go home. Not only did I get sent home, but I was told to go to the other location in Osu the next day. I was a little disappointed because I had been so nervous for basically nothing and I was really happy with that building and the location it was in. I was not in the mindset to take the tro tro home, so I called a taxi from the street. Luckily, the ride home only took around fifteen minutes and I was home around 11 a.m.

The next day, July fifth, was my real first day at my internship, but it was not any less crazy. The professors decided to take a small group to their internships again to make sure we were confident in where we were going. Because I was told to go to another location, I was able to get a ride. Luckily everyone was feeling better today so Sam and I would be able to work together. We were the last two to be dropped off and when we walked into the Osu location they told us that we were actually supposed to be at the same location I was at yesterday. So again, we sat for an hour and a half while we waited for the company driver to come get us and take us to the other location.

When we finally arrived around 1 p.m, our boss Madame Michelle was in a meeting that we were supposed to be in, too, if we had not been so late to the office due to the mix up. Another intern who works at Emerge, Anas, gave us some files for a client so we could do some research and begin working on a campaign. Our first project is for a startup financial investment company located in Ghana.

Although the first two days of my internship were nothing but hectic, I could not be happier with where I was placed. Emerge Advertising seems like an agency that does great work and my boss Michelle is so knowledgeable and inspirational. I already have loads of work to do and lots to learn, but I absolutely cannot wait to see what skills I will gain from this internship to use in the rest of my career.