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24
SPRING
2012
Issam Jabara ‘57
walks in into the Alum-
ni Office. “I would like to take a picture
of my dorm room in Sage Hall,” he says.
It’s not his first time to the campus since
he graduated 54 years ago. But this time,
he had his camera. “I want to write down
my memories,” he explains.
But three flights of stairs in Sage Hall
proved too much for Jabara so he settled
for taking pictures from outside the
building. “You see this window?” he said
chuckling. “This is where we used binocu-
lars to spy on the girls at ACS.”
Looking around at the chattering student
body around him, he sighed. “Girls back
then were different.They were romantic,”
he said. “Now, they all look alike!”
Jabara leads the way downstairs at Sage
Hall into the middle school laborato-
ries. “And these,” he declared to the two
surprised teachers conferring with each
other, “were our showers. You are standing
in our showers!”
The amused teachers greet him warmly.
Jabara looks pleased.
“This was my home for years,” he says.
“I was sent here because my grandfather
wanted the very best education for me.”
Jabara was barely six and living in the
southern Lebanese town of Merjeyoun
when his father passed away at which
point his upbringing was delegated to his
affluent grandfather.
At the age of 16, Jabara was sent to the
far-off city of Beirut to live as boarder
at IC. He looked around with interest.
The school was situated amongst much
greenery and a few homes with orchards
surrounded it. Most of the roads around
Bliss Street were unpaved. At IC, the
Memories