H. E. FADI ABBOUD
The newly elected chairman of the ISC Alumni is expected to write a message, to his fellow Alumni. I always try to write what people do not expect me to write, but writing to my school's alumni, and trying to impress them with how witty I am is not easy.
We certainly share the same background, we were taught at an early age, the meaning of efficiency, the importance of education, and most important, how to live together in harmony, whatever background we came from. This was in the early seventies, as I graduated in 1974, we were educated in a cosmopolitan, multinational, and certainly multi religious school.
What is so special about our school, and what should be special about the alumni?
In answer to my question, the International School of Choueifat is what we all want Lebanon to be, a highly educated bunch of people, honest, serious, going out to make a difference. We worked hard (and played hard), and we certainly were pushed to work and play hard. We were pushed to respect ourselves. We were made to feel that competition is healthy, and it could be a means to a better society, as long as, it is based on fairness. We were proud, and the result speaks for itself.
ISC Alumni why, and who needs it? I for one feel such a nostalgia when it comes to my school , and I am not the only one. I must share a little story with you, the day I met Doctor Samir Allam, even though Dr. Allam is older than me (our little secret), and we do not remember each other from our school days. But for one odd reason I felt that this man is a friend. Suddenly I felt that we shared and still share a lot: our respect for education, our principles, and our true secular beliefs. Additionally, we shared a background which nourished our basic principles, such as love and respect for our country and our people, and a total refusal to give up on our country.
ISC's Alumni is probably the most important network of the Who's Who in the Arab world. I have yet to meet a Choueifat graduate who does not have feelings towards his days in our school. Some were pushed too hard, some could cope easily, but we all have our memories, and we all have a firm belief that our school shaped our personalities, and played an important role in our lives.
Last but certainly not least, the Alumni is a breath of fresh air in a country we all do not want to lose, and will not lose. We felt that we are the true Lebanese society, and that all the Lebanese should be free, secular, Lebanese before anything else and dedicated to improve ourselves and our nation. Our school is about 35000-students strong in 41 countries and our spirit is all over the world. It all started on this land, in our beloved Choueifat. We owe it to ourselves: Our Alumni will be as strong as our school, I promise.