The end has come. Five of some of the best weeks of my life are coming to an end, and
it’s time to say goodbye to this magnificent country. I sit here, just a few hours away from
boarding my flight back to the United States, contemplating what I learned most by going on this trip. Multiple memories come to mind: the sobering experience of the Elmina slave castle, getting a clear look at what it’s like in the advertising world by interning at Innova DDB, or learning about the magnificent life of W.E.B. Dubois. All spectacular experiences, and there is one theme, I believe, that rises above and unites them.
I am a proud student of communication studies, and have loved the work I’ve done ever
since I decided to go down this path. A common question I get, though, is what exactly
communications is. It’s such a broad term that some are confused as to what it encompasses. The simplest way to sum it all up, in my opinion, is that communications is the art of storytelling. Whether that be telling the story of a person or a strategic story of a brand, communications is the path of the chronicler.
Storytelling is truly a magical feature of humanity. It transcends all cultures in that
everyone does it, and everyone has their version of it. It’s something that unites us and allows us personal expression of our past, present, and future. It’s a way we pass down heritage to our youth and a way to remember the ones we have lost. It allows us to portray the impossible and ground ourselves in harsh realities. In this way, I believe we can look at stories as a form of currency. The more stories we have, the richer we become.
As I look back at what I experienced on this trip, I know that I’ll have so many stories to
tell in the future. Stories of places far away. The cool waters of Wli Waterfall and how I braved
walking under its thundering weight and dared to touch the wall behind it. A beach near Elmina town where people of all nations played volleyball together. The bar in the Volta region where Natalie and I dueled in a game of pool while the locals cheered us on.
Then there stories of the memorable Ghanaians I met along the way. Clement, our pilot
of a bus driver who navigated his way through peril after peril of city driving in Accra and bad
roads in the countryside. Sonny, the DJ who guided us around the country and always knew how to cheer us up. Selorm, the Ghanaian Don Draper who could control any room he was in and craft insights unlike any I have ever heard before. The two boys who gave us raw cocoa to try and swam with us at the waterfall. So many others who I will remember forever.
Then there are the stories on a smaller scale. The simpler pleasures of life. Eating a bofrot
(Ghanaian doughnut) and loving it, but knowing at the same time that I may never have another one again. Playing ping pong after work with Joey, Stephen, Bilius, and Bismarck, and how I started as just an amateur but grew into a heavyweight competitor by the end of my time with them. Singing Billionaire at a local karaoke event and had the whole restaurant singing along with me.
It’s these stories that I will pass on to others, how this amazing adventure affected me,
challenged me, and made me a better person. From the warmest of welcomes to imposter
syndrome to tears in the slave castle. How Africa is not how the media presents it, but rather the complex continent it truly is. The stories we tell will live on in memory and in story.
It’s interesting to think about how my expectations were more than met on this trip. I find
it astounding that a trip with so much hype around it actually lived up to what I hoped it would be. I can’t help but think how lucky we all are to have done something so amazing and to do it with such a great group of people. Jeremy, Rubby, Natalie, Jahlysa, Nesta, Leslie, Senyo, Ed and Celestine will always be a part of the narrative of this trip and in the stories we tell. To my parents (I know you guys read these) I have nothing but sincere thanks for giving me the means to go on this trip. Without you, this couldn’t have been possible, and you deserve all the praise in the world. Maybe one day you’ll also get to see the beauty of this country.
It’s time to say goodbye to this chapter of my life and move on to the next. It’s my final
year of school, and then it’s out on my own. Whatever comes my way, I’ll always remember my time living in the Black Star country of Ghana. And for that, I will always be grateful.
