On Monday, October 27, the Mercersburg Academy community gathered to hear author Safia Elhillo speak about her life experience as a Sudanese-American woman and discuss the year’s all-school-read Home is Not a Country, based on her experiences.
Director of Library Services Alexandra Patterson led the Community Reading Committee, composed of faculty members and students. She said, “One of the factors that we consider is whether the author is someone that we might want to bring to campus. We got really lucky in this case that the book was the one chosen and that she was available to come.” Patterson added, regarding the choice, “The books that were on the table were quite varied. We had a nonfiction text, we had a more traditional fictional text, and we had this novel in verse. Ultimately, this was the book that felt most accessible to all members of our committee, while also providing a way for us to discuss the theme of the year, which is ‘Listen, Understand, Empower.’”
Patterson further expanded on the choice. “What resonated most, and what I hope folks are able to take away, is this idea of home not necessarily being one particular palace. In a community like ours, where folks are coming from all over the world, I would hope that Mercersburg becomes a sort of a home for them, but that they’re also able to share that idea of home with one another.” She continued, “I often hear from students in the English classroom that they don’t necessarily see themselves represented in books. Being able to provide this other perspective, that perhaps is as often seen in literature, hopefully helped open those conversations and allowed students who maybe don’t see themselves reflected as much to see that is possible.”
Her words inspired academy students from diverse backgrounds. Ellie Yang ‘27 said, “I think because our community is very international, what she said had profound meaning, often not talked about in our community. I really enjoyed how she talked about what a country is and the label that it puts onto a person. And her idea of a third language. I think the ideas of intersectionality and being caught between cultures spoke to me because they represented how I feel coming to America and not being necessarily fluent in Chinese when I’m from China, but then again, being too Asian here.”
“It was very insightful. I enjoyed her take on the world. I thought that her idea of belonging really resonated with a lot of people. She invited us to think about what is our home. It’s about surrounding yourself with people who make you feel like yourself and finding your place in it,” said Audrey Stambaugh ‘27.
Ruby Cameron ‘29 added her thoughts. “I really connected with her story about reading poetry in the club, because that’s really unconventional, but she does it anyway just because it makes her happy and it’s really inspirational.” Cameron added, “She said she felt like she doesn’t have a group she can relate with, and I feel like that’s also true in my life, as well.”