Month: December 2017

Last Spring in my Education Studies class, we discussed the distinction between receiving an education and claiming one. That discussion gave language to the mindset I had entered college with. It has also gotten me through difficult and triumphant times both at Hamilton and at the University of Ghana, maintaining my clarity of my vision in two notably different academic systems.

Generally, there have been many adjustments to the academics and education here in Ghana. I have needed to adjust to using WhatsApp communication as opposed to email correspondence in addition to relying on teacher’s assistants and course representatives in classes. This required a particularly proactive approach in classes to make sure that I am updated with information. Many classes have a midterm assessment that counts for 30% of one’s grade and a final that counts for 70%. With fewer opportunities to check for my understanding and with examinations counting for much more of my grade than I am used to, I felt a lot of pressure and anxiety to do well on these exams.

When picking my classes at the beginning of the semester, I practiced the same careful and deliberate choosing I did at Hamilton, keeping my academic strengths, areas of growth, limits, and goals in mind. While I did expect to challenge myself, I also reminded myself that taking on too many challenges in a new environment would mean setting myself up for failure. Consequently, most of my classes resembled the more-seminar based classes that I was used to.

However, I took the only education course I could find named Educational Psychology, which consisted of an unfamiliar lecture-based style, rigorous note taking, and a large class size. Practices such as sitting in the first row of the lecture hall and making sure to ask questions as often as I could helped me make the transition and stay focused in this new setting. The midterm also caught me off guard with a short and strict time constraint. Afterward, I did not do so well on timed pop quizzes and found it difficult to study for acumulative final.

Contemplating and experiencing all of this made me realize how the control I had over my education definitely shifted, but nonetheless, should not have been completely lost. In a lot of ways, attending an institution with different approaches to teaching and learning is a risk and can be stressful. My adaptability has been tested just as much as my grasp of the knowledge in my classes. Considering the fact that my academic performance does not only impact my future but my family’s future, I was scared at multiple points throughout the semester. Deciding to study abroad was and is a form of claiming an education due to the active work required to remain grounded, determined, and successful. My academic challenges here did not set me back, but did clarify how I should proceed. Through my endeavors, I seek to embody Kwame Nkrumah’s famous words: “Backward never. Forward ever.”

As a millennial, I guess I fit the stereotype of someone who is always on his phone. I’m frequently scrolling through Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, and spending hours on FaceTime. Contacting people back home has become one of the most important things to me. I have realized that my need to remain so invested in my life in the states stems from the particular challenges my loved ones have been facing recently as well as the currently hostile social and political context of the U.S. Daily, I watch as updates range from the most interpersonal of news to global current events. As a result, my feelings and my focus have been split as I try to remain up to date about people’s lives back home while gaining as much as I can through my study abroad experience.

I reflect on my reasons for studying abroad and the preparation process that spanned several months. I had a more individualistic mindset and pictured my presence in Ghana rather than my absence in the states and what that would mean to various people I loved. Now, I grapple with feeling powerless since I am unable to provide the direct emotional and physical support that usually characterizes my relationships with so many people around me back home. Since I was unwilling to sacrifice this opportunity, constantly communicating with people and having an electronic presence have become my way of reaching a compromise. I manage to still achieve an emotional closeness through seeing and hearing people on my phone despite a lack of physical closeness. Of course I make an effort to be present during my time in Ghana. However, I also recognize that I must try my best to ensure the easiest reentry back into the states and lives of loved ones.

Contrary to the judgmental tone many have when commenting on my generation’s preoccupation with our phones, being on mine so much during the day functions as a self-care practice. Journaling about my daily experiences, writing poetry, debriefing about my day to others over the phone, and messaging friends have become calming and often necessary escapes that I have made a regular part of my daily routine. These coping mechanisms allow me to maintain a source of familiarity and solitude as I continue to navigate an environment that is no longer new to me, but still different in many ways to what I am used to.

I would say that I have not found a balance between feeling here and there. Rather, I would describe my feelings as more fluid. The push and pull factors that motivated me to go abroad moved as the Atlantic Ocean. These feelings came in waves as I considered the benefits of traveling with the cost of leaving people, things, and places that I hold dear behind. Now, similar push and pull factors make me feel like I need to return home as I acknowledge the benefits and disadvantages of doing so.