Hackney to Frankadua

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This year I managed to make the trip of a lifetime to Accra, Ghana with 3 friends of mine. What an experience it was, I stayed in a volunteer house for 3 weeks in a small town in East Ghana called Frankadua. We taught in a local school that was started up by a priest for children who cannot afford to attend the government schools. The teachers at the school were paid very little and volunteered their time to ensure that the children received the same opportunities as those attending the other schools. The school was called Freedom International School in a small town called Osia Bura, East Ghana. The priest would also pick the children up every morning in a ‘Tro Tro’ (Ghanaian main mode of transport – alternative to a mini van in England) to make sure they got to school safely.
Within my time at the school, I worked in Kindergarten 2 (equal to reception class in English schools) where children were at the ages of 4,5 and 6 years old. In this class I taught maths and English mostly and occasionally taught science. Everyday without fail, the children would brighten up my day with their beautiful smiles on their faces and their vibrant personalities individual to each one.
In this part of Ghana they speak a dialect known as Ewe, where constantly they would shout “oovoo” from across the street meaning white person. They seemed genuinely fascinated by my skin tone, something which is just the norm here back in England. The children would always wave and giggle and were genuinely excited to meet people from other countries, this was quite refreshing. In the evenings occasionally we would attend the training sessions for the local team and help out with drills or games. However my football knowledge in terms of coaching is quite limited therefore this wasn’t my area of expertise and I took the overseer role as opposed to coach.
We travelled to many small towns in East Ghana and also stayed in Accra on weekends with a friends family who were very welcoming. It was a blessing to be able to see the different lifestyles of people in Ghana, you could call it the rich and the poor to be blunt. Often on television Africa isn’t displayed in the best light and it was nice to see a different side of Africa that we don’t normally see.
Overall my trip to Ghana was amazing and I most definitely would love to return there very soon!

All is well,

Zoe

Life’s a Beach.

University normally lasts for 3 years and you are done right?

well for me everything is annoyingly different. The past 3 years have been mega stressful, but hey it has been an experience. I am studying Sports Science and it took me until my 2nd year to realise what I really wanted to do. I love my course don’t get me wrong, but I now feel like I have shot myself in the foot (not that I know what that feels like). So I want to be a Physiotherapist, that is 100% what I want to do, and I aim to one day own my own private practice. So… studying Sports Science does not qualify you to be a physiotherapist, you need a degree or a masters in it. I applied for a masters course at 3 universities, I really want to study in London now as I have been outside London for the past 3 years. 2 universities that I applied to are really top dog and one has been recommended for their particular course but it is outside London, and 4 years part – time (Undergraduate). So the university with the undergraduate course didn’t receive my application until about a week after the deadline, despite me posting it a week prior (good old royal mail). One of the top dog universities declined me without interview and the other one gave me an interview. So the one that gave me an interview is the one I really liked anyway (yay me) however the interview process is a completely new method I was unfamiliar with (mini multi interviews – MMI). I prepared for the interview a month before and it was absolutely nerve racking! So, it has been a month or so since and a week ago they finally contacted me with their response, I didn’t get it. I have to admit I was absolutely devastated, I mean this is my life and someone has just told me they basically weren’t impressed. However, they gave me an offer for the undergraduate course? shocking and still heart breaking. This has made me feel so crap, it is like someone telling you that despite you being at the end of your current degree, you are still at the same level as someone who is at the end of their A-levels – great.

So with thought and encouragement from my parents, I accepted their offer. To be honest, I am slightly embarrassed. I feel like I am basically not good enough to study at masters level even though I will have a degree in a couple months (God willing). I haven’t even told many of my friends, I think I have told like 5. Everyone was so sure that I was going to get it, and I don’t know how I can bring myself to tell them that I didn’t. So I am going to just keep my head down when I reach September because I am going to have to do another ‘first year’ again with a load of excitable teenagers who just want to party. I don’t want to be 23 with two degrees I want to be 22 with a degree and a masters. Even me writing that now I feel ungrateful. I am in that ‘feel sorry for me’ mode, it’ll pass. These last few months have just taught me that nothing is guaranteed and we should be grateful for every blessing we are given despite the disappointments we may end up with.

All is well,

Zo