“What Now?”: Final Lessons from a Semester Spent in Cameroon

Ever since I arrived back in Portland on December 14^th, I’ve been busy reflecting on the only question that has keep me sane in the aftermath of my trip to Cameroon: What now?

Many people have told me to take it easy, or to wait until I get back to school to start contemplating the question of what’s next, or simply to enjoy the present and let that be enough. For better or for worse, I find that to be impossible. The jarring, and indeed disorienting, disparity between the reality in Cameroon and the reality I am now confronted with back home is too great to ignore; The only way to put my mind at ease is to identify how I plan on bringing these two realities together in my life. I need to begin the long, arduous process of understanding what going to Cameroon meant for me.

Yaounde, Cameroon

Portland, Oregon

When I decided to go to Cameroon, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I only knew that it was something I had to do. “Had” with a capital H. There was no doubt in my mind that this was an experience that would fundamentally alter the way I perceive the world. It was a hard thing to explain to my parents at first, but as my Mom told me later on “I could either let you go or tell you no and have you hate me for it.” There was something compelling me to go, and only an act of God would keep me from following through with it.

I didn’t have a plan for how it would fit in my life long term. I just knew I had questions that couldn’t be answered by sitting in a classroom in Spokane: How does the world really work? What environments do I thrive in? What issues should I dedicate myself to champion? And what kind of lifestyle will I need to adopt in order to do so?

In many ways, taking the semester to study international development and culture it was a similar leap of faith as abandoning my plan to study engineering the summer before starting college. But both times, I felt that there was more out there waiting for me to learn, to experience, to discover, and if I didn’t seize the moment, I would regret it. I didn’t know where going to Cameroon was leading me, but I was emboldened by the words of Steve Jobs in his 2006 Stanford Commencement Speech (which I’ve written about before):

“…you can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future… you have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever, because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path… and that will make all the difference.”

Looking out over Yaounde from the Palais de Congress (September 2015)

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I experienced just about every emotion on the spectrum in Cameroon: joy, exhilaration, fear, sadness, doubt, epiphany, love, and heartbreak for the state of the world. Looking back, amidst all the things I experienced, three important lessons stand out that are crucial for answering the “What now?” question:

1. Life is made rich by the people you live with and the values you live for.

 

2. The political and economic power structures that dominate the world today must be reformed in order to prioritize environmental sustainability and social justice, values that will benefit the majority of humanity.

 

3. Ideas have the power to challenge and overthrow entrenched systems, but only when they compel people with a vision of a better future and a sense of urgency to start moving towards it.

Diving into the intricacies of these three lessons would take more space than I have here, but suffice it to say that spending four months in Cameroon with such incredible, passionate peers and examining the shortcomings of international development over the past 80 years, as well as conducting independent research on the state of social entrepreneurship in the country resulted in one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. Now comes the tricky part: applying these lessons moving forward.

Gonzaga at sunset (March 2015)

My current plan is to use this semester back at Gonzaga as a time of reflection and preparation for the next chapter in my quest to make a living and change the world. Specifically, I plan on investing time in exploring summer internships with think tanks and research programs focused on advancing economic, environmental, and social justice agendas. I’ll also begin to shift my focus towards preparing for graduate programs in international studies that examine the economic and political power structures that shape the world today. Lastly, I want to explore how I can share my experiences with audiences across the United States interested in learning about how they can serve as agents of change to usher in a new age of social justice based on solidarity, social innovation, and empathy.

Thankfully, I am not alone in this quest. There are thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to similar goals, learning from individuals and grassroots organizations all over the world and sharing their stories with the public. In fact, in an upcoming post I’ll be sharing my 10 favorite TED talks by people doing just that! By listening to the stories of these men and women, we can build empathy and find inspiration to solve the greatest challenges of our day and age: climate change, inequality, discrimination (of all types), hunger, and the demise of popular democracy in the face of corporate power and greed.

Together, we can, we must, and we will change the world. All it takes is an ounce of faith and the will to persevere.

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Since I officially launched this website on December 28, 2014, over the past year it has received 3,733 views from hundreds of visitors in 63 countries… To each and every person who took the time to accompany me on my travels, thank you so much for your company. I never imagined I would be able to reach so many people with my stories and perspective. I hope you have found some food for thought in my words and photos, and if so, I would love to read your comments about your favorite posts, things you took away over the past year, or things you would like me to talk about in the near future! Here’s to another great year!

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If you would like to contact me directly, please do so via email: adanowski@zagmail.gonzaga.edu