Here we go!

On June 20, 2016 I departed from San Francisco International Airport and began my two day journey to Kumasi, Ghana. For the first time in my life I felt anxious about leaving the country, uncertain about where I was going and what I was doing. I have always felt excitement about traveling to new places as curiosity is one of my largest traits. Sad about leaving my home I flew out of the country. 36 hours later I woke up in a small motel in Rome, Italy to prepare for my last flight, which would take me to my final destination. For the first time since being accepted as a Global Fellow, I was at peace. I didn’t know why I was so happy. Was it because of the texts from my fellow SCU students wishing me safe travels? Was it the joyful tune of Bob Marley playing through my earphones? It certainly was not because I gained any more knowledge about how I was going to get to my house in Kumasi from the airport (I still didn’t know how I would travel from Accra to Kumasi). I sat on my flight puzzled about why I was so excited all of a sudden, and just thought to myself about everything I had learned in my Global Fellows classes. Several hours later I came to the realization that perhaps my happiness was due to the fact that I had the ability to pave my own journey. How great my experience was on me and no one but me. While working with Bright Generation I could just blindly take orders from my colleagues with the hope that maybe my contribution will help someone in need, I thought to myself. OR I could go out and use every skill I have ever learned to have a positive impact, not just on the people or country of Ghana but rather humankind. Using the latter mindset, I embarked on my journey with the optimism that I would have an incredible time in Ghana. Not in the sense that I would experience a euphoria, like the one you feel when your lying on a Hawaiian beach drinking a virgin margarita, but that all the time I have spent in a classroom will work towards something substantial. I love humans. I believe that the human spirit is intrinsically good and I hope that this theory is only strengthened with this trip. If everything goes well, I will see the natural human spirit in every person or village I encounter. And who knows maybe by the end of these two months I will eventually see it in myself too.

Nick Redfield

June 25, 2016

Kumasi, Ghana