By Jose Carrillo
The first week of our stay in Ghana revolved around getting accustomed to the city of Accra through lectures at the university, botanical garden tours, attending a children’s school, and even road-tripping to the Cape Coast to visit the slave castles. I absolutely loved all these excursions, but the trip’s main goal is to immerse oneself in a new culture while also gaining experience in a field of interest. So, the idea of interning at one of Ghana’s most successful advertising agencies, Innova DDB, lingered in my head.
I was stressed. Anxious. Something.
Luckily, I wasn’t interning alone, so the whole “needing to figure out how to get there and back to the apartment” speech from our professor wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be (to note: this speech was said so nonchalantly, it blew my mind).
Nonetheless, the first day came and went. I truly believe the anxiety I was feeling was actually just excitement. The people in the office were so welcoming and watching them work was mesmerizing (ESPECIALLY the Creative department). Everything was so lively and collaborative, something I absolutely loved. The conversations I’ve had were genuine, with questions regarding perceptions of positions in advertising in the U.S, my personal interests/skills, or thoughts on life in Ghana. The chemistry in the office is a wonderful thing to witness too, with everyone being comfortable contributing ideas or just sparking up a random conversation. I know it sounds corny to say, but it feels like a family.
In short, the first week working here as been an absolutely eye-opening experience and I’ve already learned so much about the industry, made connections, and even worked on projects with others in the Creative department. My favorite thing would’ve been the production shoot I went on. Free food and drinks, while acting like a fly on the wall, observing both the locations of the shoot and the interactions between team members and the community. Genuinely excited to see what these next couple weeks has in store for me