Image sourced from Sameera Yusuf

If you ever see a fast moving girl wearing a scarf and carrying a cup of coffee, speeding by you on your way to class, there’s a good chance it was Sameera Yusuf.

An implant into the Fayetteville, Ga. area, Sameera Yusuf is a Queens, NY born Indian middle child who is studying Journalism with a minor in Christianity at Mercer University. Her mother is a fifth generation Indian from Eastern Africa, and her father is Pakistani. Sameera considers herself Indian, but admits that she is “pretty mixed.”  Growing up, it was Sameera and her two older brothers, that is, until she was about seven. At this age, her younger sister was born. Yusuf can laugh at the seven year age difference, saying, “It was an accident,” Sameera Yusuf said. She does, however, love her sister, and would not trade her for the world.

With the addition of the younger child, Sameera gained more responsibility in the family, and she did not have much free time. “We owned lots of businesses, lots of gas stations and that sort of thing,” Yusuf said. “So a lot of time was spent there instead of at home. I never really got to play outside and that kind of thing, because I was always with my parents at our stores.” Working this hard at an early age really paid off, though, and set Sameera on a path of hard work that would carry her even to this day.

Throughout her life, Sameera expected to attend Emory University. However, when her response from Emory came, it was a rejection. “Which was traumatic, which was very traumatic,” Yusuf said.

Sameera was struck by good luck when someone suggested that she apply to Mercer. At that point, Sameera was going to attend her local college and stay at home, hoping to transfer to Emory at a later date, she said. However, Sameera had also gotten into Agnes Scott College, a women’s college in Atlanta. She and her mother had decided that she was to attend Agnes Scott. In a very timely decision, Sameera checked her email before accepting the decision at Agnes Scott, and learned of her acceptance to Mercer. She visited campus and fell in love, making her decision to attend Mercer that much easier.

Sameera entered Mercer as a political science major, on the pre-law track. “That’s just kind of the mainstream route that everybody takes,” said Yusuf. However, the decision did not stick after a traumatic experience within the political science department. “My freshman year, I took a 300-level political science class, which beat me up, basically,” Yusuf said. “I wasn’t necessarily very fond of anyone in the department. I just wasn’t excited.” Sameera also took a class within the journalism department, to complete a general education requirement, and loved it. “Writing comes very easily to me, but my style of writing is very fluffy,” Yusuf said. “Journalism forces me to be concise and focus. It challenges me to be a better writer.”

Sameera is currently the section editor for Her Campus Mercer, president of the pre-law society, and a Resident Assistant, who is interviewing for the Senior Resident Assistant position. If she does not get the position, she plans on studying abroad in Scotland. With all of this going on, it’s a wonder how Sameera keeps it up. “Well, I never sleep and I drink a lot of coffee,” Yusuf said. “I always keep my planner on me, and I pan out basically every hour of my day.”

After this year, Sameera has one more year here at Mercer, then she plans to attend law school to study Healthcare Law. “I know many people in healthcare, and I want to make a difference,” Yusuf said. “Hopefully, I can help develop laws that have a positive impact on our country, but if not, at least I can help hospitals stay in good standing so that they can use their money to help as many patients as possible.” Sameera has big aspirations, and she hopes to achieve them all.