By: Jake Moore

JFK is a hectic airport with large crowds, bad smells, frustrated people, and a certain level of chaos that could make even the most confident people anxious. I am currently sitting in JFK waiting for my connecting flight to Accra, halfway through hour two of my eight-hour layover here. Despite the chaos of a place like this, there is a lot about large international airports that excites me. First off just think about the fact that people from so many different places, speaking so many different languages, and belonging to so many different cultures are gathered in one spot and in a couple hours could be on opposite ends of the world.

Secondly, the airplanes themselves. Watching an airplane take-off will never cease to captivate me; it is the same fascination that leads me to stop everything I am doing, sit up straight and observe every time I am on a plane during take-off. I find the feeling exhilarating, somewhere between the pure thrill of a roller coaster and the amazement of watching a shooting star. One second I am thinking, “It’s amazing this even works” and the next I am experiencing this incredible phenomenon firsthand as inertia causes my body to resist the plane’s movement and presses me tightly against my seat. Lastly, these massive international airports are virtual cities in and of themselves, they have restaurants, grocery stores, and massage therapy. Shuttles provide public transit and planes and cars follow traffic laws on the tarmac just like the rest of us driving to work. As I have already mentioned… ANXIETY.

Every airport is different, some want your electronics taken out when you go through security and others want everything in a single bag. How dare you use a tray! Communication can be difficult when people speak a variety of languages at different levels. The rush to get to your connecting flight seemingly absolves you of humanity leaving a cruel shell of a person that stands right next to the gate before their boarding group is called hoping to beat the other people to the plane and secure the precious real estate that is overhead carry-on storage. All of this doesn’t even mention the fact that the country boy deep down inside me is terrified of crowds and hates being squished between a bunch of strangers – but hey, I’m getting better.

I hope that you, the reader, have had similar experiences to this before whether it is international travel or a bus or train ride across the state because these feelings are very similar to the feelings that began to hit me roughly three days before departing for Accra. I had felt the excitement of going to Ghana for months while taking the spring term class that prepares students for the trip. I had dreams of walking through an open-air market and a feeling of unbridled curiosity. But, roughly three or four days ago, a little bit of anxiety began to mount. It is the same anxiety that grabs hold of me anytime I take a long trip. Knowing that I am going to forget something and it had better not be anything important. The thought that there are so many little things to take care of that some are bound to slip through the cracks and maybe that one that slips through could translate to a missed flight, a lost bag, a missing wallet, or who knows what else. There is also just the dread of being in an odd semi-conscious state for 24 hours of travel.

As the slight anxiety mounted before this trip I was lucky enough to spend some time with friends that I met while feeling a similar way, classmates from a study abroad program in France. Not only is it soothing to be around people that you truly enjoy, but it also was the most incredible reminder of the incredible things that can come from a trip like this as the trip got closer the anxiety increased, and so did the excitement.

What incredible things might I see in the next five weeks? What incredible people will I get to spend time with? What adventures will I find with the other students and how might they connect us for years to come? Even as I sit in a corner of this airport that makes me nervous, writing this blog post fills my belly with eager butterflies. Accra here I come… well, ya know in 6 hours when my connecting flight takes off.