Feb. 27, 2013

Well hi!

My name is Rachel and I am one of the ten students going to Ghana for Senior Projects. In Ghana we will be teaching at Heritage Academy, a school founded in 2004 by Westtown School’s Teacher Kwesi, as well as doing community service and touring cultural and historical sites. Since this progressive school’s founding, enrollment has grown tremendously and every year Westtown students hold classes there, in subjects ranging from science to history to music and theater and everything in between.

I will be co-teaching an English/creative writing course with my friend Taryn, as this plays off both of our academic strengths. Truth be told I’m terrified. Not only will I be thrust into a completely foreign culture, I will also be expected to stand in front of a classroom full of kids who seek to get something out of what I might have to offer them.

But that’s exactly why I chose this project – for my entire life I have been incredibly privileged and sheltered. Everything I could ever need is perfectly within my reach. Heritage Academy will force me to leave my cozy little comfort zone and experience a way of life that is worlds away from my own. Perhaps in teaching these students I will also be able to learn a little bit about myself as well.

During our last meeting as a group before we actually embark on this trip, T. Kwesi said to us: “You are not Bill Gates, but you can change the world.” I certainly hope I leave Ghana feeling this empowered.

~Rachel