Home ❤
I am genuinely so happy to be home. Don’t get me wrong. Ghana was an incredible experience and I learned so much. But, I missed my family with all my being. My mom, sister, and sweet dog are my everything and leaving in the first place was difficult. There were so many times where I wished they were with me to experience the beaches and delicious fruit and people there. When I was at the beach, all I could do was think about my family and imagine what they would be doing if they were with me: my sister would be wayyyy out in the ocean swimming and becoming one with the sea, my mom would be walking on the shore taking our photos and collecting shells, my dog would be going absolutely insane drinking all the seawater he could and swimming with all of us. As soon as I flew into SFO, my mom picked me up and we took our dog to the beach. I felt right home and so at peace. I wasn’t worried about anything, a huge change from my trip.
Get Brooke Watson’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Working abroad definitely changed my perspective of lots of things. I’m very thankful for what I have and am even more aware of my privilege. I completely forgot what air conditioning felt like and how soothing warm showers were (I’m still getting used to both of those things). But, this trip also reminded me how unnecessary both of those things are to thrive. I think often countries are looked down upon because they don’t have those things. Ghana is thriving the way it is and has been for a long time. Something I believe people don’t realize is that it’s not that countries are so much worse off than the states, it’s that they are DIFFERENT. We spend money on the most pointless things in the states thinking it would lead to happiness when that is so unnecessary to live and have pride for your country. Of course the states are farther along than Ghana in some things (same-sex marriage is very illegal in Ghana, they burn their trash, police are constantly bribed) but they work so hard for everything they have and you absolutely cannot say that about so many communities in the states (in my opinion of course). Hopefully, that does not sound ignorant, but it is one of the best ways I’m able to describe my thoughts. I reflected a lot while I was abroad and found I kept to myself a lot more than I wanted so I filled pages and pages of my journal. I definitely grew and became more patient with situations. I absolutely want to travel more and learn more about the world while using my education for good. I’m very thankful for my Global Fellows experience, as hard as it was.
