Youssef arrived at St. George’s having moved to Switzerland from his native Egypt and his younger sister, Sarah attended Junior school. Both of them were day students

Initially, it was challenging to make friends, but once fellow students began approaching him and talking, from that moment on, friendships were formed with peers who came from around the world! This part of school life, the friendships and the different cultures, he considered to be the greatest privilege.

Recollections of his favourite teacher, Youssef feels that Mr. Reilly put a great deal of effort into his work to make sure everyone succeeded. Youssef also recalls interesting lessons of ToK (Theory of Knowledge) with Mr Jupp and their discussing and debating whether dogs have faith or not. His favourite lessons were Maths with Mr. Pritty, Computer Science, Ms Rani and Physics with Mr. Reilly.

For Youssef, the most enjoyable and exciting part of the school year was the Christmas dinner; the anticipation of the impending holidays, the whole event was spent in a relaxed atmosphere and it always had a wonderful mix of a formal event, the dinner at the start, then followed by the informal side including the disco, music and dancing, etc!

He found the wide-ranging variety of subjects offered, and his personal preference choosing studies ahead of his IB years, helped forge his plans for future University studies.

In Youssef’s words - In terms of my failures, I realize now that I focused too much on extra curricular activities which meant that my grades started to drop due to the constant distractions. I learnt quickly that I had to manage my time better and how valuable time really is.

I would say that my successes include the ability to write essays, the simple importance of using coloured pens in notes, all the way to combining the experience I gained participating in the International Awards programme and to work on the Extended Essay project. My biggest success would always be the incredible memories that I made throughout

Thanks to technology, he has been able to stay in contact with most of his friends – some of whom have moved on to create new lives around the world and some who remain in Switzerland. The initial feelings upon graduating a year ago were a mix of liberty, but also nostalgia, missing all the good times and recalling fond memories, but equally ready and eager to make new ones.

We asked what the best thing has about entering adult life. Youssef stated it’s the freedom and being able to use his previous life experience to now lead one’s own life, make our own rules and finally knowing the reason behind most of the life tips that our parents have passed on to us.

Youssef is currently studying in Luagno at USI (Università della Svizzera italiana). He is in his 2nd year of a BSc in Informatics. He sees his short to medium term goal is to work towards earning both a Masters and PhD in either Cyber Security, Robotics or AI.

He is of the opinion that the sector he hopes to eventually gain employment in is "The" future and everything depends on it in order to run. This includes the current Covid19 pandemic and the dependence on technology from the simple work-from-home apps to the technological advancements in hospitals, so this field is going to be a part of every other field.

The advice that he would pass on to students now is to make memories, glean as much knowledge from teachers as possible and he firmly believes that the more work you put into your future whilst at school, then the more you can reap later.

Youssef continues to visit the area regularly during the holidays as his family still live in the Riviera region.