Abdisalan Abdi '24 Recruiting Profile

My name is Abdisalan Abdi. I have been studying at Abaarso School, my current school, for six years, and I have just graduated last year. This year,  I am taking a gap year at Abaarso and will be working for the school as an Academic Administrative Intern, where I will be working with the Co-Heads of the School. In this position, I will support the academic team in planning and coordinating activities relating to students' academic life. I will also serve as a substitute teacher, and teach classes when needed. 

My parents are pastoral nomads. They have a small herd of goats and sheep in the countryside, which they move around a lot to be able to get better areas for the goats and sheep to live in. In my junior year, I had the privilege to attend a boarding school in the United States called Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, through a program called Assist that takes international students from all over the world and, after a very selective process of applications and interviews, places them into American independent schools for one year. After this one-year period ends, Assist Scholars are expected to go back to their home countries, which is why I am finishing up my senior year here at Abaarso in Somaliland. This was one of the best years of my life, and there were a lot of firsts. Athletically, I had the time of my life, any other way to describe it would be an understatement. This year was great because I got to experience a different world than I have lived in and got to experience such amazing cultures. I also discovered a hidden talent I didn’t know I had before coming to Episcopal.

After playing soccer for a couple of weeks, my advisor, who also happened to be the cross-country coach, advised me to try running. Little did I know I would be good at the sport, despite it being my first time doing it. In as little as five races, I was able to be in the top ten in the state, allowing me to be named all-state in cross country.

Here at Abaarso, I have been able to train under a great coaching staff. We have had few time trials so far, and I have just run 15:53 (5000 feet of elevation) for the 5k. In addition, I believe that I am nowhere near my best form, and with a few more months of continued hard work and consistent training, I will be able to run some great times.