Kindness is Infectious: Yusef Bushara ‘18
How long did you attend Somersfield?
I attended Somersfield from 2005 until 2018. My sisters Hana and Reem also attended Somersfield. Hana and I are ‘lifers.’ There’s many core memories from my stint at Somersfield, and while my time wasn’t so long ago, life has changed shape quite a bit.
Where have you been since graduation?
After I graduated from Somersfield, I spent two years nestled in the forests of British Columbia, at Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific. From there, through the bulk of COVID, I moved to Menton, France to complete a degree in Political Science at SciencesPo. The degree had a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean studies concentration, which I decided to do so I could learn Arabic.
Why Middle Eastern and Mediterranean studies?
Our father is from Sudan so connecting academically with my heritage, since Somersfield even, has been a priority of mine. When I enrolled at SciencesPo, I enrolled under a dual-degree program which meant that after two years in France I’d do two years at another university. Which brings me to now.
Where are you now?
I’m doing a second degree in English Studies at the University of Hong Kong and have been here since August of last year – it’s been a whirlwind of a few years but every time I’m home, I always make it a mission to visit the Somersfield community!
How has Somersfield helped you get there?
Not just academic life, but much that’s happened outside of it, Somersfield has had a hand in. It’s shaped me to the bone, paved my journey throughout the last five years (can’t believe that) so intimately. In many ways the role Somersfield has played has been as direct as it’s been intimate – having such a large network of passionate alumni who double as friends has been fulfilling – but in the other ways, the impact has been quieter, more subtle.
It manifests in my willingness to be comfortable with discomfort. Life for the last while has lacked much normalcy, things have been comically unpredictable, and I think Somersfield taught me that that’s okay. Rolling with the punches is part and parcel of being a Somersfield student, because things don’t always go as planned but we learn, and I say this so proudly, to embrace the lessons found in the crevices of discomfort.
While for me it’s been in Canada, France, and Hong Kong, I’ve seen Somersfield students make the most out of the communities they’ve not only joined but formed in the places they’ve moved to post-graduation. Somersfield will always be my OG tribe, and if there’s another thing that the tribe has taught me, it’s that kindness stretches and infects people so positively.
In my most difficult moments, that’s the lesson I learned at Somersfield that I carry closest to my chest. Be kind, always. That’s what I’m most grateful for.