By Megan Gignac

If there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that coming on this trip was hands down one of the bravest things I have ever done. For starters, I had never been outside of the United States before. My friends and family thought it was very bold of me to choose Africa as my first destination abroad, and honestly, I agree! But let’s back up a little bit first to see how I got here.

Senior year was off to an amazing start; I was soaking in every second, appreciating all that I had because I knew that time was counting down and college wasn’t going to last forever. As I was trying to compartmentalize everything I needed to do to be able to graduate—host my family, take graduation photos, finish my job, and things of that sort—I was so focused on everything right in front of me that the thought of what happens after I walked across the stage to get my diploma had not hit me yet. It had always been a dream of mine to travel abroad, but in the past four years, it just hadn’t happened for me yet. 

I remember first hearing about the Media in Ghana program in one of my advertising classes from Professor Troy Elias, who had been on the trip a few years prior. I remember thinking, “Wow, that trip sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” I figured that since Ghana wasn’t a place I would have thought to visit on my own, that it was likely I would never get an opportunity like this ever again. I was incredibly intrigued. Intrigued by the program, by Ghana, by Africa as a whole, and by the idea of what I could learn from going to Accra. 

So I decided to go—even though the thought of traveling that far scared me to my core. It had been a long time since I challenged myself to do something so far out of my comfort zone, and I knew that if I passed up on the opportunity, I would deeply regret it. Now sitting here in Accra, 5,000 miles from home, I know I made the right decision. The knowledge I have gained in just a few days has already been so eye-opening. I feel really lucky to be here, experiencing a new part of the world with new friends I’ve met along the way. I was so incredibly nervous to take the leap. The thought of a near 15-hour plane ride, being in an unfamiliar place so far away from home, all with people I didn’t know super well for a long period of time—I was really scared! But with college coming to an end, I knew that I wanted to have one last adventure, push myself out of my comfort zone, and try something new. What got me here was simply the thought: “If not now, then when?”