A Fresh Perspective

As many of you could probably infer from my previous posts, several aspects of Ghana have started to grate on me, especially the corruption and constant harassment of Americans. To be honest, I was reaching a point not too long ago when I couldn’t wait to come home.

Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a friend that has helped me to embrace my remaining time in Ghana with a little more enthusiasm. A friend from Newton (my hometown) spent the summer working in Tamale (a city in northern Ghana), and, before flying home on Tuesday, he and one of his colleagues spent Monday night at my house in Accra.

I asked them if they were really excited about going home, and they said that they had mixed feelings. On the one hand, they said they certainly missed many of the creature comforts and familiarities of home. At the same time, they said they were cognizant of the fact that they were ending a very unique experience that has taught them a great deal.

One of my colleagues, who spent last summer in Ghana, made a similar comment to me. He emphasized that, as stressful and challenging as life in Ghana can be, you are likely to miss it a couple weeks after you return home.

I’m trying to take both of these conversations to heart for several reasons. First, as both my colleague and friend noted, it’s not every day you get to live, work, and coach sports in an African country.

Second, I’m realizing that the remainder of this trip — i.e. these next five weeks — probably represent the end of what has been a wonderful but, ultimately, unsustainable period of my life. Since graduating from college in June 2008, I’ve focused largely on making the money and creating the conditions to do two things I thought I would really enjoy, my bike trip last fall and a job abroad. I’ve been employed at least part time for every month since college graduation and did at internship at the Center for Sport in Society that helped me to clarify my career goals, but, nonetheless, this past year has been, to a large extent, about having experiences I would cherish for the rest of my life, not career development.

I have no regrets whatsoever about how I have spent the past year. I’ve had a great deal of fun, clarified my career aspirations, and, to a large extent, quenched my thirst for adventure. At the same time, I don’t want the next year — or next five years for that matter — to be a repeat of this past year for several reasons. First, now that I have clarified my career aspirations, I want to work towards realizing them. Second, the past year has been a bit socially isolating for me. I’ve lived in a tent while biking down the west coast, at home while doing an unpaid internship and two part time jobs, and in West Africa. Needless to say, it is hard to lead a normal 23 year old’s social life in any of those circumstances.

All of that is say that these next five weeks represent what will likely be the last phase of a somewhat nomadic period of my life. Though I am starting to look forward to ending this phase, I recognize that, like Ghana, I will probably appreciate it more when it’s over. So many of the people who I went to for career advice said that this is the time in my life to do things like my bike trip and job here in Ghana because, later on, I will have more substantive responsibilities.

So, recognizing that I’m approaching the end of two very unique times in my life, I am going to try to enjoy, appreciate, and learn from the next five weeks as much as possible.

Having said that, mom and dad, do not worry: enjoying, appreciating, and learning from the next five weeks will not involve making the next Obama no matter what taxi drivers say to me.