Ghana isn’t an easy experience to put into words. Like a lot in life, it wasn’t just one thing. Traveling halfway across the world to a new continent was exciting. Working alongside local colleagues and sharing in their daily lives brought pure joy. Seeing extreme poverty up close made me feel sad, frustrated, and sometimes guilty. Getting lost in the rain on my way to my first day of work? That was outright annoying. And at the end of it all, jumping on a plane to come home was bittersweet. That’s Ghana.
Study abroad programs are meant to expose students to new cultures, to the ups and downs of living somewhere unfamiliar. But Ghana? Ghana was something different. Life in Accra isn’t like anything I’d experienced before. Living and working there wasn’t just about adjusting to a new place — it was about learning what it means to live in another culture.
Translation? I learned jokes and expressions at water coolers. I worked on campaigns for billion-dollar brands I’d never heard of. Coworkers taught me the unwritten rules of marketing in an entirely different cultural context. Thinking about it now, a lot of it turned out to be pretty useful in the work I’ve done since.
When I wasn’t working, I wandered the streets looking for pickup football (the real kind), ate street food, and chatted with strangers. This exercise in exploration unlocked a lifelong love of bopping around the globe to see what life is like in its different corners. The best part is that I support these stints abroad with a career as a freelance brand strategist that started with my internship in Ghana.
The best parts of my life today have their roots in that summer. I’d encourage you to take the leap, you never know what it will unlock for you.