Summer Search is a national organization with an office located in Philadelphia that takes 10th grade students from the Philadelphia area and helps to mold them into effective leaders. Umar was nominated to participate in the Summer Search program by a teacher at MBA. Once he was nominated, he had to write an essay and have an interview with Summer Search staff about why he wanted to be in the program. As a Summer Search student, Umar receives weekly calls from his mentor, who helps him to prepare for life after high school. Summer Search students are also eligible to participate in two summer trip experiences, before their 11th and 12th grade years of high school.

For his summer trip, Umar decided to travel to China with the "Where There Be Dragons" summer program. This program takes groups of students to China, and provides them with wilderness, medical and cultural training, all while traveling around the many regions of China. Umar spent 42 days traveling on sleeper buses, trains and airplanes; he ate new foods, learned a new language, experienced extreme weather conditions, learned about cultural differences and adapted to the daily life of a Chinese person. As part of his trip, Umar lived with a Uyghur family in Kyrgyzstan. The Uyghur people are an ethnic group in China, and their language and daily life are very different from the rest of the Chinese population.

Umar traveled with a group of 11 students and 3 instructors – he was the oldest of the students, and the only student from Summer Search. During the trip, he took a prominent role as a group leader, encouraging his fellow group members to appreciate their unique experiences and take advantage of every opportunity.

In the future, Umar would like to be a computer software engineer.

Read Umar's Summer Search Reflection Letter!