Deep learning, in and out of the classroom

This is a great opportunity to expand your horizons and grow a lot as a person. CIEE's direct enroll program at the University of Ghana is an amazing opportunity to study a huge variety of subjects while being well supported as an international student by the wonderful on-site Ghanaian administrators and UG students who will be your friends right from the start of orientation.
The university is located in Accra, the capital of Ghana, which I really enjoyed as as place to learn about daily life and Ghanaian food through a homestay, many day trips around the city, a wide variety of street food, and making friends with fellow students. It is also an international city with internet cafes and international restaurants that can help to ease the transition stress and homesickness of any abroad experience.

Moving beyond Accra is not difficult; you will have three CIEE-organized trips to various cultural sites around Ghana built in to the program. For the more adventurous, public transportation to and from Accra is easy to find, I have greatly enjoyed the independence, confidence, and experiences of traveling with a few friends on my own.

Through CIEE's cultural trips, my classes, conversations with Ghanaian students, and forming friendships with the other CIEE students of very diverse backgrounds, I learned so much about Ghanaian and West African history and present-day politics, especially with respect to the slave trade and colonialism, past and present. This is a critical topic for our time as injustice born of this history continues to dominate and oppress both here and at home. This program has given me invaluable new perspectives far exceeding the limited (and rather one-sided) information I received in school, and is understanding I will treasure and use for the rest of my life.