When I applied and decided to go to Trent, the Trent in Ghana program was a huge draw factor; being able to travel and get university credit for the trip seemed like the perfect situation. Going on the program became part of my University Plan. Once I actually got to Ghana though, all of my plans changed. When I thought about placements prior to the trip, I thought I’d work with children or renewable energy. Once we started thinking about placement organizations while in Ghana, quizzes and activity sheets that I wouldn’t usually pay attention to got me thinking about sustainable agriculture, leading me to a placement at the Ghana Permaculture Institute.
My three months at the Ghana Permaculture Institute put my academic, professional, and personal goals and interests on an entirely new path. I interned on a farm in Ontario the summer following the program and tailored my course research in fourth year around international agricultural policy and sustainable agricultural innovation and practices. After graduation I started working on a different farm and intend to pursue a master’s degree in public policy. There’s no telling if I would have ended up where I am without going to Ghana, but I’m so glad that Ghana is how I got here.
The Trent in Ghana program brought a group of passionate, crazy kids together and showed us what everything we had learned in first and second year actually meant. The experiential and classroom learning in this program made “international development” a more concrete reality, grounding what theories and case studies had all alluded to in what was actually going on around us. This new environment brought a special set of personal challenges and frustrations, but it was these challenges that provided space for growth and understanding. Trent in Ghana saw me at my worst and at my best, and pushed me to be more independent, more adventurous, more easygoing, and more critical. It gave me practical perspective in my final year of university, and a great group of friends as a bonus. I will always look back fondly on the eight months I spent in Ghana and credit the program with my love of agriculture and agricultural policy. I hope that students for years to come give themselves this chance for growth because it really is the opportunity of a lifetime