Throughout this semester, I have gone on many adventures in my spare time. I have traveled all around Europe and the United Kingdom, and eventually made it to Marrakech, Morocco, in Northern Africa. This ended up being my absolute favorite trip, and made me realize that a piece of my heart belongs in Africa.

Last summer, I was given the incredible opportunity to travel with a small group to Malawi, the smallest country in Africa. Malawi was stunning, but what stood out to me more was the kindness of the people I met there. I went with a team to deliver medical supplies to a village where we had raised money to build a small clinic. This clinic was three rooms and a dirt floor, but had a metal roof, which was very rare in Malawi. I remember the chief of the village begging me to come back and work as a nurse in the clinic when he found out I was in school for medicine.

This trip, we landed in Marrakech and visited the Souk night market. The next morning, we left around 6 am to drive ten hours into the desert. We stopped for a delicious lunch and to buy headscarves, and then made it to the northern part of the Sahara! We rode camels at sunset, had dinner and a drum/dance circle, and ended the trip with a quad bike ride the next morning at sunrise. On the bus ride back, I met a girl who is solo backpacking from Australia. My favorite part about traveling is the interesting people I meet along the way!

Although it was a different part of Africa, visiting Morocco for a weekend made me realize how much I missed Malawi. Small aspects of the trip, such as the food, music, markets, and the kindness we were shown made me feel as if I was back in Malawi.

All my life, I have felt called to work for Doctors Without Borders, or a similar organization. Although I have dreamed of traveling around the world to provide people with compassionate medical care, I have never had a specific location in mind. This trip made me realize that a piece of my heart belongs in Africa, and I cannot wait to see what the future will hold!