Alumni gathered in March to help AMIDEAST staff hold informational sessions for the upcoming '07 YES students and their parents. '05 Alumni Sirine Ghammour, Nidhal Karti, Nedra Khamla, and Marwen Meshergui spoke at the Tunis meeting, while Nadia Amraoui and Khaled Minyaoui helped at the presentation in Sousse.

Nidhal shared his memories of the re-entry process after returning to Tunisia. He admitted that he was initially worried about returning to school, but that he was pleasantly surprised. "As soon as I got into the school, that nightmare disappeared," he said. "Everybody came up to me and asked me what I did in the United States, and what did I think of the time I spent there. Everybody without exception showed me respect because I went on the program. I also discovered that this experience made me much more mature. You know, it's really great to feel that feeling; the feeling of being a leader". Khaled agreed, "I would say [the YES year] is a true exam of our own
abilities as young, passionate people. It makes us more open-minded in order to help us address life's challenges. I think after eleven months in the U.S. I was just ready to come back home and to make a change in my
surroundings, even a small one."

Sirine also shared how she has emerged as a leader among her peers after returning home. "People are learning from me how to handle problems," she said. "Thanks to my communication skills I am the one that people look to when there is a problem with one of our classmates. It is the responsibility of a leader to motivate people and to resolve problems. I have found that coming back to Tunisia allowed me to build upon my
leadership skills and with these skills I can lead a better life for myself and for others."