By: Peyton Brooks

KOTOKA INT’L AIRPORT, ACCRA, Ghana —

Thirty-six days in the blink of an eye.
Thirty-six days of adventure, learning, community, inspiration, and creativity.
Thirty-six days of “has someone called the bolt yet?”
Thirty-six days of squeaky bunk beds and 3 a.m. giggles.
Thirty-six days of the ‘Bradford Summer Sweepstakes’ (those who get it, get it, and those who don’t, don’t).
Thirty-six days of an alarm set at 5:30 every morning.

Before I left my quiet hometown of West Eugene, the number thirty-six scared me. Anything could happen in thirty-six days, and since I have a particularly overactive imagination, the word ‘anything’ scares the hell out of me. Before I got on that ight, my mind was spinning with questions of “what if I get sick?”, “what if I get lost?”, “what if I don’t get along with the people in my group?”, “what if something happens to my family while I’m gone?”, and “what if I’m not good enough to be here?”

The last question still rings in my ears today, even in my nal days in Ghana, and I think it always will. I am a constant imposter of a journalist navigating a newsroom. However, the dierence between my imposter syndrome at the beginning of this trip and the end is the newfound knowledge I have about the people in this eld. I’ve come to know that everyone is an “imposter.”

Every journalist in this room is faking it until they make it (or retire). Everyone in my newsroom struggles with grammar, starting a new piece, public speaking, curating story ideas to pitch, and feeling a bit lost at times. “What if I’m not good enough to be here?” isn’t a question sectioned o for only me to hold in my mind, it’s a community question that everyone asks.
I learned a lot from this realization because once I pieced together that I’m not alone with this line of questioning, I began to realize that it’s not about an inherent raw talent that makes a journalist, but rather just making an attempt to do something even when you’re unsure. I learned to lean on my mentors at Asaase Radio in Accra, Ghana and with that, I unlocked a vault of experiences that I will cherish throughout my career.

I learned how to just go into every situation with the storyteller’s brain on, even o-the-clock because stories don’t just appear during the traditional nine-to-ve business hours. I learned a work-life balance that is unheard of in the United States. Here in Ghana, you eat at least three times during the work day, socialize as you please, and always text if you need a mental health day. I learned how to mentally manage the chaos of producing stories for the 12 o’clock news hour. I learned how to mess up and move on. I learned how to work a soundboard. Lastly, I learned how to not live in fear.

Fear played a large role in my life back home, but fear had no place in this little life I’ve formed during this month. Jahlysa Azaret was the intern at Asaase Radio 99.5 before me, and when we met about her experience at Asaase Radio she said, “Peyton, the only expectation you can have about Accra is the expectation that you won’t return the as same person you were when you left the United States. When you come back, you’ll come back with condence, newfound friends, and ways to live without so much fear,” and I fully understand what she means now.

I’ve been placed in a position where I just had to gure it out and walk into intimidating rooms alone. No mom. No ancé. No Leslie. Nothing. It was just me, and I don’t think I would have it any other way. I’ve grown since I’ve been here. As a journalist, as a student of the SOJC, and most importantly, as a person.

I want to thank our professor, Dr. Leslie Steeves, for placing me in the position that allowed me to be here. She made it possible for me to come on this trip, and for that, I am incredibly thankful. I also want to thank my “boss” at Asaase, and UO SOJC alum, Jonas Abedi-Anim. I don’t know if he’ll ever read this, but he’s been the biggest help whether he knew it or not. Being able to converse about home with someone outside of my group, lessened the impact of the homesickness I had during this trip.

I want to thank everyone in the newsroom at Asaase Radio. Especially Clankson, Gemma, and Caleb who truly carried me through this internship, suering through my ignorance regarding the systems related to the Ghanian government and economy. I want to thank the faculty that came at the beginning of this trip and allowed me to create more personal connections on campus.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge that phenomenal and crazily talented group of SOJC students I’ve had the pleasure of traveling with during these ve weeks. We’ve laughed together, bonded over movies and storytelling together, got into arguments similar to the way siblings would (which also lessened the homesickness), we’ve cried together while going through really impactful places in Ghana, we’ve discussed Ghanaian politics and policies, we’ve brainstormed ideas to pitch together, chased waterfalls together, shared several USB-C cords, and we’ve danced together at Afrikiko every single Wednesday. This was a group like no other and for that, I am incredibly thankful I got to be a part of it.

Friendships like the ones I formed with everyone in my group: Laura, Sam, Melina, Liz, Stephen, Khalil, Jake, Brady, Michael, Nate, and even Karl, aren’t friendships that are easily crafted in the States. There is no better bond than mutual trauma bonding. It was thirty-six days of poorly crafted roads that lead to seat-gripping eld trips, car crashes in Bolts, having to cross streets where there aren’t trac laws or crosswalks, emotional moments in slave dungeons, impoverished school visits, and walking into spaces where the impacts of poverty are extremely visible.

These experiences can’t be easily told through Instagram posts, or even in our blog posts, so to have people who have gone through these situations with me holds great importance to me. I can only hope that we continue to stay in touch after everyone lands in their respective locations.

These final moments are slipping through my ngers like sand in an hourglass. Soon, keys will be returned to Bright.

Soon, I will hug friends who I’ve come to love goodbye and wish them safe travels. Soon, I myself will be on a flight to surprise my family a day early.

Soon, my time in Accra will be a distant memory of deep gutters, humidity, honking, musty smells, Whatsapp, and the banging of tro-tros.

Accra, thank you for what you’ve given me.

Thirty-six days of newly formed friendships, new food, new perspectives, new opportunities, and new memories.

And just like that, my time in our beautiful East Slip apartment in East Legon is going…

…going…

gone.

Until next time Accra.
Flight DL0157 to JFK is now boarding.