Anderson Cooper:
“How many of you want to go to
college?”
Abaarso Students:
[Every single hand shoots high in
the air]
“There aren’t many high
schools in the world with 45
students in a grade that are so
successful in getting alumni
into top colleges, let alone one
where students speak English
as a foreign language and
often grew up in poverty.
“An intensely goal-oriented
young woman named Nimo
Ismail, is completing her
studies at Oberlin College…
She’s known I want her to
be the attorney general of
Somaliland for so long.
“The Abaarso boarding school
has become something of
a feeder school for elite
universities. Adan, 20, is
among a small number of
underprivileged students
who are increasingly
getting accepted into the
most prestigious American
universities, like the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Carnegie Mellon
and Georgetown.
“The exceptional thing is not
that Abdisamad gets into
Harvard, its that Abdisamad
is prepared for Harvard, that’s
what’s impressive.
“Our staff works 70-hour
weeks because they are
motivated by the mission’s
goal and feel ownership for its
success.
