The idea of celebrating our differences while honouring the similarities that unite us was explored during Chapel this week, a student-led gathering that offers space for reflection on community, connection, and shared values.
Rather than offering a single definition of unity, the session invited reflection on the many ways it can be experienced: through friendship, shared vulnerability, curiosity, and everyday interactions.
“Unity is not about ignoring what makes us different,” said Grade 10 student Byrdie Fisher-Franke. “It’s about recognising that everyone is navigating the same world, just through different lenses.”
Byrdie’s reflection spoke to the shared uncertainty that underlies individual experience, touching on ambition, self-doubt, and the desire to belong. Her words reframed unity not as sameness, but as an awareness of the emotions and questions that quietly connect people beneath the surface.
“Deep down, there is a part of everyone that remains the same.”
That idea of unity as something lived rather than abstract was echoed in reflections shared by Grade 12 students Jordan Martin and Bashar AlBusaidi, whose friendship grew through curiosity, openness, and cultural exchange.
“In the span of one school year,” Jordan shared, “I went from not knowing a country to visiting it with one of my closest friends.”
As their friendship deepened, Bashar experienced an early Christmas with Jordan’s family in Canada, taking part in traditions that were new to him. Then, over the Winter Break, Jordan travelled to Oman with Bashar, where he was welcomed into Bashar’s family and introduced to his friends, culture, and daily life.
Their reflections highlighted how multiculturalism is experienced not only through geography, but through everyday relationships — fasting alongside a friend, sharing family traditions, and stepping into unfamiliar spaces with trust and openness.
“It wasn’t just a journey for Jordan,” Bashar reflected. “It was a journey for me too.”
Together, their stories illustrated how connection deepens when difference is met with curiosity rather than distance.
“The friendships you make in a multicultural community don’t last a year,” Bashar said. “They last a lifetime.”
As an international school, SMUS offers daily opportunities for cross-cultural connection, with friendships formed across borders, traditions shared, and perspectives exchanged in countless small ways. Through this Chapel service, students reflected more deeply on both what makes each person unique and the qualities they share, offering a vision of unity that extends beyond the moment and into the interconnected world they will continue to shape.
