Blog #6 — Perceptive Changes
My high school graduation was an occasion surrounded by much more turmoil and incertitude then the typical ceremony, despite great efforts put in by the school and local community to make the event feel as normal as possible, due to the tragic incident of February 14 in Parkland, Florida. I myself could not have been any happier to finally leave high school and prepare to enter the world of true independence. I felt liberated. My perception of myself has changed slightly since then, but I still view myself as the same person at the core. I always have considered myself a quiet, introverted yet observant, laid back kid. Most people who know me would likely concur with that perception. I’ve never been one to initiate conversations, and still have trouble doing so often times.
My stay in Ghana certainly removed me from my comfort zone and forced me to take more initiative when engaging with others. As I’ve mentioned countless times before in previous blogs, the people in Ghana were always friendly and receptive, which helped a lot. While I do feel that I returned to the United States with improved social skills, I would still classify my personality as quiet and shy.
More than my personal perception, I that my world view has changed quite substantially. If we go back to the time of my high school graduation, my world view had actually become quite pessimistic and hopeless following the circumstances leading up to that point. With all the chaos surrounding my high school, and all the media coverage, heated and often times ugly political debates, and overall strong social tension within our society, it was easy to develop cynical feelings through this perspective. My trip to Ghana, however, allowed me to realize how narrow this perspective was, and that there is so much more to the world than what was going on back home. I met many wonderful people and made many new friends, many of whom I am still in touch with. I returned with a feeling of optimism, and learned that there is still a lot to learn.
