“At a young age, I learned how to value people’s individuality.”

Cysilie Hines-Growe is currently a senior at Freedom Preparatory Academy and will be attending Agnes Scott College to obtain her business degree. “At a young age, I learned how to value people’s individuality; and learning about different people and their different customs has always been interesting to me.” Cysilie looks forward to pursuing a career as a financial analyst since she has always, “admired the business structure, the different elements that go into finances, and the competitiveness of the industry.” Through her involvement and academics, she continues to exemplify high levels of determination, leadership, and organization, with a unique and curious personality.

Throughout her time in Ghana, she developed herself personally as she was able to discover her self worth and identity. She found comfort in her ethnicity as a young African American woman, and felt free to be herself while letting her personality blossom. Seeing the land, the people, and their talent was a key moment for her as she was able to sit back and think, “This is where I come from.” Cysilie has successfully exhibited her skills both personally and academically by developing a global mindset, and being engaged in learning a new culture and country throughout the trip.

A wealth of opportunity for Millennials in Accra.

Cysilie’s love for learning about the business environment matched her excitement to see how Ghana, as a developing country, has a quality business support and reach out to entrepreneurs and give them space for meetings. The Impact Hub Accra helps empower all entrepreneurs and innovators to collaborate and network to make challenging changes for the 21st century. The hub provides resources, mentorship, product and idea testing, training, and or capital as a foundation for new startups. This site resonated the most with Cysilie because she was able to witness a wealth of opportunity for Millennials in Accra, and in general, those who want to establish their own business venture.

Ghana was her first global experience, and initiated an important turning point in expanding her comfort zone. She usually avoids change, but this trip marked a successful opportunity for her to fully embrace change and open her arms to new opportunities and experiences. The Ghanaian lifestyle was a huge culture shock, but eventually she was able to conform and adapt to the beautiful and astonishing surroundings. In Memphis you wouldn’t be able to catch Cysilie dancing in public, but in Accra, every song pushed her to a new level of comfort. Her and the other student ambassadors turned each song into a vivid dance party. Overall, when approached with new and or rigorous challenges, she is able to demonstrate resilience and reflectiveness.

Engaged in deep and interesting intellectual conversation.

Cysilie made long lasting connections with different people on her trip including people form the Krokobitey Institute and One Africa. The Krokobitey Institute drives change in the creative arts and educational system while emphasizing an importance of environmental sustainability. Cysilie still keeps in touch with May and Nana whom were both staff members at the institute, and she considered both of them family through their warmth and welcoming attitudes.  She engaged in deep and interesting intellectual conversations with people from One Africa, a guesthouse and holistic resort in Cape Coast, where they talked about White privilege in America and the importance of unity between both Africans and African Americans. As she reflects on her personal development, engaging conversations and going beyond her comfort zone, she continues to miss Accra, Ghana and the many memories she created.

Source: Feature image courtesy of Cysilie Hines-Growe, 2018 Youth Global Ambassador.