Studying abroad at Ashesi University in Ghana gave me a new perspective on community and leadership.
On a campus with fewer than 2,000 undergraduates, Ashesi brings together students from over 40 countries, spanning wide cultural and economic backgrounds. I arrived at Ashesi aware of its values, but it was the academic collaboration, exploration, and most importantly, the everyday conversations, that shaped my experience there.
One of my closest friends came to be a student from the DRC. We would spend evenings discussing conflict, global power, and what a more empathetic world might look like. Another friend, from Cameroon, once told me his favorite part of Ashesi was being able to tell his professors they were wrong. He spoke candidly about corruption, political violence, and education as a tool for deep societal change. The conversations I had were not surface level debates, but real pictures of lived realities and the differences that people are fighting to make.
Academically, collaboration was unavoidable. In classes like Ghanaian Popular Culture and Mechanics of Materials, working in teams forced me to slow down, listen more carefully, and step outside my own cultural assumptions.
That same mindset shaped how I experienced Ghana beyond campus. The more I led with curiosity, the more coherent and meaningful everything became. I spent weekends exploring museums, markets, music, food, and history with friends.
As I return to the United States, I have a new global understanding, a hope to carry with me the warmth and friendliness I was shown, a renewed desire to keep exploring, and a conviction that who you learn with matters as much as what you learn.