Looking Ahead

When she came home, Samatar experienced a huge culture shock after spending so much time abroad. It was something she had never experienced before: “I learned so many different cultures and so many different things. I wasn’t used to the American culture [upon returning], or the way that people interact.”

     The biggest shock was hanging out with her friends after returning, and how unusual their interactions seemed to her. “I’m super close with my friends, but those two months away and learning other cultures and not interacting with American culture was so weird. I almost felt like I was watching myself interact with other people instead of being in my body, almost an out-of-body experience,” says Samatar. 

     For Samatar, this culture shock emphasized just how different cultures are, just two months away had a large effect on her. “I didn’t even realize what it was until I talked to my mom’s friend, who was saying that when you travel a lot and then come back, it’s like a whole other experience, I mean, right now I’m used to it, but when I first hung out with my friends it was really weird,” she adds. 

     As Samatar walks through the halls, she radiates a glow of positivity that seems to be passed on to everyone. Samatar strives to stay positive and motivated through the year. She views positivity as a way to be grateful, and find light in a world of many struggles and issues. “I am so privileged for what I have and who I am, I think that I have to appreciate it while I can, because you never know what’s going to happen… positivity is a great way to look at places even when there’s so many people struggling and going through stuff, if you are positive and you look at that aspect in school and everything, I think that can rub off on other people,” she says. 

     Regarding senior year, and her future, Samatar says “I definitely want to go to college in America, but I really want to go to medical school outside of America… I want to do at least a semester or a year abroad, especially in Turkey.’ She hopes to go to medical school in Istanbul, and then return to America afterwards. 

     Samatar notes that she wants to keep an open mind about her future and the world, and that traveling for school, as well as for fun, will allow her to do that. “I think that there’s a lot more out there than we know, and if I say that I just want to do one thing, then I’m just going to focus on that one thing and not see everything.”