pre-departure

For the first twenty years, the sequence of events that make up my experience has followed in a natural and logical order. Much like directions from MapQuest.

There is learning and then there is leading.

Calc BC follows Calc AB.

A season of basketball comes after the fall play.

A camper becomes a counselor.

My hair grows long and I cut it.

You get the license when you've done well with the permit.

A size four becomes a size six.

I applied early to Northwestern and never looked back.

And try as I might to hold my 10 year plan loosely, my inner compass typically steers me toward my destination along the fastest route possible.

So, it is surprising, if only to myself, that I am preparing to take a quarter off from the school I love so much to spend four months and one week in a place I have never been, taking classes that won't go on my transcript, with a people I know little about.  This autumn doesn't look like the others.

It is a detour that I probably won't be able to fully explain or justify until it's over and even then, perhaps not for some time. But I welcome the unexpected gift. The spontaneous combustion of being too comfortable and Tuesday after Tuesday after Tuesday.

As much as I have truly enjoyed (and I have) and benefitted from (and I have) studying theatre and writing at the collegiate level, the pursuit has whet my appetite for substantive experience to bring to the page/stage. So much time spent analyzing and theorizing about the vehicle through which to tell stories will serve me only to the extent to which I have something to say. A story worth telling. I am hungry for some life experience that will expand my palette as an artist and the scope of my awareness as a friend, a citizen and a believer.

Why Ghana?

Why not?

Also, I want to meet their soccer team.

Also, Ghana means "Warrior King".

Also, I don't have to bring my North Face.

Also, in the midst of so much danger, disease, political upheaval and poverty, Ghana seems to be a nugget of hope. They are a model of stability and peace in a ______-stricken continent. Their strength intrigues and inspires me even 5838 miles away.

I am told it is a country of great faith. Whether Christian or Muslim or Hindu or tribal, Ghanaians place high value on their individual and communal religions.  A dynamic and vibrant culture of faith will be a welcome change from what often feels like a vastly apathetic landscape.

The university at which I will be studying seems to place great value on the arts and I look forward to investigating the role of theatre and music in this society.

Personally, I hope this will be a time of solitude and community, of self-discovery and learning to be selfless, and one of restful adventure. 

And finally, though I have never been, Africa- an awareness and a passion for its people- has been in the air in my home since I was a little girl. My dad has a remarkable passion for the underprivileged and he has served the poor faithfully for many years.  It is my earnest prayer that my first third-world experience will help me to follow his example. I want to move through my suburban world with heightened awareness and deeper gratitude in hopes that I can live with half of the compassion I see in my father.

And so, 

    I am six days, 

       three malaria pills, 

             about 12 more hard goodbyes, 

                    one pal auction (to determine which lucky figurines will make it in the heat), 

                             and two macho suitcases that weigh more than my family

                                             away from the season that doesn't quite look like the others. 

                                                                      But just might end up fitting right in.