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Accra, Africa, Airport, Culture, Diversity, Ghana, ISEP, Legon, Look Back, Missouri, Study Abroad, Study Away, University of Ghana, Year
A day in history can mean so much to one person, yet so little to the other. Days consisting of a mere 24 hours pass each of us. These days are meaningful, some more than others.
My meaning full day just so happens to be May 30th, 2013.
The night prior to that morning, I had fell asleep wishing and praying that the day wouldn’t come. I wished that I would wake up and it had all just been a dream. Nothing was going to change. Nothing was going to end. And I was not going to move.
Nevertheless, I awoke on May 30th 2013 to realize that none of it had been a dream. I found that my life was changing. A chapter in my life was ending. And I was going to move 6,152 miles.
May 30th, 2013 was the day I left Ghana.
Now you may ask why January 15th, 2013 doesn’t stand out to me as the day I left the USA for the very first time. The truth is because at that time I knew life would change, but only for 5 months. I wasn’t ending a chapter, I was beginning a new one. And I wasn’t moving, I was simply visiting a different country for 5 months.
But those 5 months were magical. I learned so much in that time. I cried. I laughed. I was scared. I fell in love. I studied. I lived carefree. I went on adventures. I traveled. I made new friends. I lost old friends. I made enemies. I climbed mountains. I swam in waterfalls. I tried new food. I lived. I lived.
In just 5 months. I changed, I wrote a new chapter, and I moved forward. I changed into the young lady that believes in the present and the fight for the future. I began the chapter of my life of uncertainty and freedom. And I moved forward.
Forward is a concept that I have had to learn a lot about in the last 12 months.
Courtesy of Merriam-Webster.com, ‘Forward’ is a motion of “moving toward the future or toward a more advanced state or condition.”
You see, my future may not be set in stone, maybe not even set in play-doh. However, my future has begun. Over the last 12 months, I have changed again. I have watched several chapters of my life begin, and several chapters end. But my forward motion has stayed constant.
Thank you to Ghana and everybody I met while living in Ghana. I miss you.
One year. And to the many more to come,
Forever an Adopted Obroni.
Rural Girl Dreams 