Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson shared stories during the When Stars are Scattered assembly that positively impacted the entire GA community.
Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson, the authors of the graphic novel When Stars Are Scattered, recently came to talk to Germantown Academy’s Upper and Middle Schools on September 28. They co-wrote the story together, but Jamieson was responsible for the illustrations. The attention-grabbing book is based off of Mohamed’s life growing up at a refugee camp in Kenya. Half of the Upper School attended their presentation in-person in the Arts Center, and the other half viewed the discussion through a Zoom live stream, which received mixed feedback.
Students and faculty had the opportunity to listen to Mohamed’s story and learn about what it’s like to live in a refugee camp. Upper School English teacher Daniel St. Jean said that hearing about thousands of Afghans leaving their homes on the news can feel “overwhelming.” However, he thinks that hearing “one person’s particular story makes the whole thing seem more intimate and closer, and you can start to imagine it in a different way.”
Omar Mohamed’s story changed the perspectives of many students. Niyathi Jonnalagadda ’27 said, “A lot of times you think about refugee camps like a temporary place that you stay in just to get settled…but as he said in the book, some people stay there for their entire life.” In addition, her classmate Lauren Kim ’27 said, “I didn’t know how bad the conditions were that they lived in, like how they didn’t get food for a couple of months.” People often receive the wrong message about refugee camps, but Mohamed’s story introduced a new side of them. Katherine Song ’25 said, “I think it’s really inspirational” that Mohamed wrote a story about what he went through. It takes a lot of courage to share your story with the world.
Unlike that of the Upper School, the Middle School assembly was completely in-person. Middle School English teacher Mrs. Sara Goodwin said, “I love that everything is in person again. I think there’s just an energy and a connection that happens when we’re all gathered together as opposed to just watching something on Zoom.” Overall, the Middle School was happy to have a sense of normalcy as they gathered together once again.
However, the Upper School had an audience that was half in-person and half on Zoom. The assembly was live streamed to advisories during Community Time. Henry Spillane ’25 attended in-person and said that “everyone was paying attention.” However, Hannah Manusov ’23 was in her advisory watching virtually and said, “It was hard to focus on the assembly in advisory because it was just like watching a video. I wasn’t as engaged in it as I think I would have been if I was in the Arts Center.” While it was difficult to hear and be engaged on Zoom, those in-person really enjoyed listening to a live speaker for the first time in over a year.
The assembly on the book When Stars are Scattered took a deeper dive into the struggles of being in a refugee camp and how it’s important to be thankful for all that you have. Students and faculty were grateful to hear Omar Mohamed’s story, whether they were in the Arts Center or in a classroom listening virtually. We can’t wait to hear about other people’s stories at future assemblies!
