George Samuel

I took off from the school on a Friday night with one of my students, George Samuel, and we rode a taxi from El Marg to Ismailia. It was an interesting, almost kind of awkward, ride for me because I wasn't too sure what to talk about with George. He was hands down the best student at the whole school and scored perfectly on everything he was given. Anyways, to make a long story short, George decided to leave the school because he was worried about being able to secure a future for himself in Egypt. Evidently, you have to score in the top 98% of your class to have the option to go the the Egyptian equivalent of "Medical School" and George wanted to make sure he could do that.

I had asked him to give me a week before he made his decision so I could get in touch with recruiters at American colleges. He said that he would wait and then a day later he made his decision to leave the school! Naturally, I was pretty upset about it because he hadn't followed through with his word and most of all I want him to have a one way ticket out of this place. George is one of the most talented kids I have met in my life. He was one of the best soccer players at the school, the best student, has a terrific talent for art, and mostly he has a highly developed understanding of people. I want him to have the chance to fully unleash all of these talents, but he will not have the oppurtunity to do this here. His talents will be suppressed by the inefficient Egyptian system and he won't be able to fully devolep.

He realizes this, as well as I do, and really wants to travel. My suggestion to him was that he stay at NUA and finish his schooling. That way he would graduate with an American diploma and then he would have an easier time getting through the American Embassy. The problem that came into the situation was that all of his "highly successful" uncles told him that if he didn't leave NUA immediately that he would squander his future. There is no "future" for him here! A doctor makes 4,000 dollars a year, that's no type of future for a kid that is so gifted! He is a pretty impressionable guy and so naturally he listened to the "voice of reason" that came from his uncles.

It's distressing to me to watch someone with so much talent not have the ability to pursue that which should be his. As I write this it makes me so grateful that I am from a country that allows me to be free and to pursue that which I want to, but at the same time makes me furious at a system that suppresses greatness. I don't know what will happen with George, it seems for the mean time that he will be stuck in Egypt. Maybe he will come back to NUA next year, like he says he will, and maybe he will be able to get a ticket out of here. That's all I want for this kid!

I think that is one of the hardest things about being here is that there are a lot of kids here that I see how much much talent, respect, honesty, and true character they have, but I know that some, or many won't be able to leave. There is a part of me that says, "It will be fine, Eric, they'll make it to the US or Australia and be able to take that which should be theirs", but I also know that only eight of the last graduating class left Egypt. One of the SM's here said it best, "there is nothing here for them and they deserve to pursue their dreams." Time will tell whether they will get that chance.