The Conclusive End To My African Adventure

A lot's happened since I've been back! After settling in, unpacking (which took longer than I'd like) and finding a routine again (amongst marveling at life in Britain which I had taken for granted once upon a time), it was straight into the application process for dentistry and prepping for uni. Which still hasn't started by the way. On paper we start tomorrow but my first timetabled slot is Wednesday - kill me now.

Being at home for this long is wearing me down. Although my timetable has very few hours this year so I'll be at home more than I am at uni anyway.

You know, it still feels surreal that I've been thousands of miles away and back. Being away from home and my family for the first time for such an extended period, and the whole GapMedics experience, it feels like a lifetime ago. And yet it was the experience of a lifetime. It probably sounds cliched and I didn't come back with a new perspective on life altogether, or have some dramatic epiphany whilst I was climbing Gangilonga Rock, but it's the small things that change within you. 

It's having an appreciation for family, for upbringing and education, for safety, shelter and food that we take as a God-given right day after day. It's knowing how incredibly fortunate you are to have access to medical care that millions of people can't even dream of, let alone have. It's having worked with people who have knowledge that far surpasses your own, who are dying to come to the UK or travel to the States to study for a pHd, but simply can't because they just can't afford it. That probably hit me the most. You know that quote; "What if the cure for cancer is trapped inside the mind of someone who can't afford an education?"

It's never felt truer.

It takes witnessing it first-hand. It takes seeing children on the brink of death, seeing mothers go through the excruciating pain of childbirth without anaesthetic, seeing the lack of compassion and mercy that exists in a world where lack of treatments and awareness causes hundreds of diseases, to actually realise that words can never come close to describing just how fortunate we are. 

We live in a world where technology dominates our lives. Where some people willingly give up their education when on the other side of the world, a child would kill to have even a fraction of it. Where we don't even think twice of the fact that the poverty we see in the media is the reality of millions.

And I get it. I finally understand all the cliches and reflections of the people who have been out there and spent time in the third world. I understand why people so readily give up their life of luxury to go out there and dedicate it those who are far less well off than we are.

My advice to anyone who can make a trip out there? Do it. I genuinely think everyone, regardless of whether or not they're applying for medicine or dentistry or any other healthcare profession, should see what's out there because it's just an eye-opening experience of another kind. It's another world. And it'll hand you a heightened appreciation for life as we know it.

I think I've grown as a person too. I'm still shy and quiet and pretty reserved, but I've become more independent and responsible, and ultimately, I made decisions on my trip abroad that (fingers crossed) will not only shape my life but also shape the person I want to become.

As for this blog, it continues. It'll follow my journey as I apply for my aspiring career and who knows, may even follow the five years I spend studying for it. You lucky readers will have an insight into my final year of uni and everything that comes in-between.

To my new readers and those of you who have followed me from day one, thank you. And a big thank you to all of you who leave me with feedback - you make my day.