Hi there! My name is Beka and I am a rising sophomore at the Capstone. Around Thanksgiving of this past year, I was scrolling through different websites on my laptop and ended up looking at the different study abroad programs. The global health in Ghana caught my eye since I had never been to Ghana and knew that since I was younger I wanted to go on a doctors without borders type mission one day. I applied to the program, thinking that I would probably get rejected, but was surprised to find out that I got into the program! Then the panic set in. Thoughts of are you ready to go overseas? How are you going to pay for this? Is it safe? Began to fill my head. My parents assured me though that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I couldn’t pass up and that we would figure out the money later. Months went by, the travel plans were set, the visas were applied for and accepted, the shots and medication needed for travel were received and I was officially going to be spending the month of July in the country of Ghana. Fast forward to the week before. At this point I had packed or at least picked out most of the stuff I was bringing with on the trip and the nerves had set in. The closer we got to the trip, the more anxious I became. I felt scared of the unknown that awaited me and had felt that I was going to be so disconnected from the people back at home (due to the possibility of limited service and a seven-hour time change). The two nights before, I tossed and turned in my bed, thinking up all of the possible bad things that could take place on the trip. I had lost sight of the fact that this was going to be a fun learning opportunity not only in my field of study but in a completely different place than the US. The day of leaving, I went through waves of being very excited about experiencing something new and exciting and being terrified. I knew this trip to Ghana would be an adventure that I expect will be something I share with people for the rest of my life and will change my perspective of a place that seemed so foreign to me.