We are almost half way through our journey across the Atlantic and I have yet to fall asleep on this flight back to the U.S, which is not surprising given I didn’t sleep a wink on the way here (yes even in the middle of the night). During this time, I have been able to begin thinking and reflecting about my experiences that I have had this summer abroad. I have also had time to watch some movies (lol). What I didn’t expect to happen was for a randomly chosen movie on the mini tv’s in front of us to help me with this reflecting process.

I chose to watch Love, Simon, a movie about a typical high school senior who seems to have the perfect life (friends, family etc.), but has yet to come out to anyone that he is gay. A classmate of his found out this secret and decided to tell the entire school. I know, this seems a little cliché but the ending is the part that really hit home for me. Throughout the film , Simon falls in love on line with a mysterious student named “Blue,” and during that time gets ousted my the immature kid who read through his emails. His life goes up in flames for a short while and then he professes this love and tells the mysterious “Blue” to come out from hiding and to be proud of who they are. At this point it was a bit awkward to be sitting on the plane because I sobbing into my neck pillow.

Now I may not have the weight that comes with being gay in our society as Simon did, but his ability to overcome such a personal battle and to live a life he truly wants inspires me. Typically I am not so sappy about movies, however this one really seemed to move me as I sit here attempting to describe it in this blog post.

Love, Simon was a comparison to my experience in Ghana. There were some difficult times, some fun times, and most importantly some life changing times. It suits as an amazing reminder to follow your heart and be the best version of yourself.  As the movie came to an end, I had this realization that I want to travel the world, a thought that I have always had but never truly knew until stepping outside my comfort zone and into a completely new country and culture. I am beyond thankful for this experience.

P.s. Shout out Delta Airlines for having some seriously good movies.