What was your initial reaction to going to Ghana?

My initial reaction was that this is amazing and I was all for it. (My family) had been talking three years prior about looking into possibly living overseas. My parents did an overseas stay when I was born and they’ve always wanted to do it as a family. I think we were all very excited that (this trip) was going to happen.

What was the hardest adjustment to living in Ghana?

There are so many differences and adjustments, like adjusting to a new school or new people. My class size was 50 kids compared to whatever I had here. New cultures, new food, new house. Living in Ghana was almost like restarting my life as a 15-year old. It was crazy, and there were a lot of things that I had heard about that were going to be changes and adjustments.

Did it make you want to continue to live abroad in the future, did you have any thoughts on want

ing to do it again?

I think living abroad is definitely something I would consider. I love traveling.

In my lifetime I’ve been to 13 rural countries. But living overseas was a one-time thing, once was kind of enough for me.

Are you still connected with the people you met during your trip?

There are a few kids that I’ve been snapchatting with on a weekly basis. There are great friends and mentors I’ll continue skyping with.

If you could have one takeaway from this experience what would it be?

You really can’t describe what it’s like. You can share photos you can tell stories but you really can’t get the full understanding of it unless you’ve been in Ghana.

Do you have one story that stuck with you?

When we were in, this was probably October of last year, we went to the festival there. We were coming home from it and turns out my mom left her phone in the taxi so as soon as we realize it I get on my computer and phone and trace it. So now we’re taking a different taxi following this taxi. So we get out and it’s me and my dad at this point my mom went back home and were literally walking through this village. And the locals there -— they are in these metal box houses. (We) were knocking on doors asking “do you know this taxi driver?” Probably for an hour, (the tracer) says it’s 500 feet or whatever away. There’s like a dozen of these houses in that distance. We couldn’t find it that night, we gave up and it is probably midnight at this point. (We) wake up the next morning and my mom is devastated at this point. The next day she ends up finding (her phone).

What was the Ghanaian lifestyle like?

I really got an understanding of what the Ghanaian local lifestyle was like when I was there. People are living in these boxes that are so small — a lug room house. That was a really an important part. It gave me a really good understanding of how fortunate I am and also you know how basic their lifestyles are.