Sherine Tully is a tutor. She works with students who have learning differences due to dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADD, or neurodevelopmental differences.  

She started her career with a degree in architecture, specializing in medical architecture where she designed hospitals and medical buildings for many years. In 2008, everything changed when the daughter of one of her friends was diagnosed with dyslexia. That moment marked a turning point as they sought help for the friend’s daughter, only to realize the lack of available resources. At that time, only about 15% of educational programs in American universities were teaching future teachers the science of reading. Therefore, teachers were graduating without the fundamental knowledge needed to teach reading to the 40% of students who struggled with it.

“At first, my heart sank at this information. Then, my heart flew out of my chest as I decided to pursue a new dream: to do everything in my power to help as many students as I could. I wanted to help them learn how to read, write, spell, comprehend text, understand the structure of the English language, and achieve fluency to the best of their ability,” Sherine explains. 

Despite people around her thinking she was crazy for leaving one of the largest architectural firms in the country, she quit her job and immersed herself in numerous reading courses. While other tutors advised sticking to one methodology, her background in architecture had taught her that multiple solutions exist for every problem. “I used this philosophy in my quest to become the best tutor I could be,” driven not by personal gain but by the needs of her students. Recognizing the importance of adapting to individual learning styles, she aimed to employ the most effective approach for each child she tutored.

“To date, I do not use a cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all approach. I tailor a different plan to meet each child’s individual needs.”  Sherine doesn’t regret her changing course from architecture at all. Nothing compares to the joy of seeing a student achieve their first word, sentence, or reading their first book. Her heart sings when they conquer a tough passage and proudly exclaim, “I did it!” She’s known to cheer, dance, and even shed tears of joy in celebrating her students’ successes. “I feel truly blessed; working with children is the best job on the face of the earth.”

Sherine moved to the U.S. at the age of twenty-four and has lived there for thirty-six years. She came to pursue a Masters in Architecture. Reflecting on her experience, she shared, “I was fortunate to study alongside students from diverse backgrounds. We embraced and respected each other’s cultures. However, being far from family and close friends, particularly during Ramadan, Eid, and other celebrations, was challenging. I missed the festive ambiance, music, and gatherings from back home. At times, it felt quite lonely.”

In celebrating Egyptian culture while living in the USA, Sherine embraces traditions of joy and hospitality ingrained in her since childhood. Upon moving to a new neighborhood with her husband, she extended this warmth by knocking on all her neighbors’ doors introducing herself to neighbors and inviting them to a block party. “One of the neighbors looked at me like I had just landed from Mars. He said, “In my twenty years on this street, no neighbor has ever knocked on my door.” Well, I thought to myself, we will change that. And we did! Everyone on our street knows everyone else now.”

Sherine has one daughter, Isabelle Amina. She is twenty-five years old and just got accepted to work on a PhD in clinical psychology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She learned only a tiny bit of Arabic as a child and has recently started taking more interest in the language. She is eager to learn it to be able to communicate and help Arabic-speaking individuals.  

The greatest challenge Sherine faced in raising her daughter was finding suitable Arabic-speaking schools for her. Despite her efforts, the closest school was not a good fit, so she pulled her daughter out and tried her best to teach her the language and culture. Living in an area with no other Arabic-speaking families made this task particularly difficult. “I managed to integrate some aspects into our daily life,” Sherine reflects, “but others I struggled with and ultimately had to let go. Balancing full-time work, parenting, and volunteer commitments left little time for extras. Exhausted, I couldn’t muster the energy to develop a comprehensive Arabic language curriculum. It’s a source of ongoing guilt for me.”

To make her daughter proud of the Egyptian heritage, Sherine told her stories—”lots of stories about Egypt, its beautiful people, its fantastic cities, and its traditions. She showed her daughter photos of her childhood, friends, school, and Alexandria.” In the past, she even visited her daughter’s school to talk about Egypt to the students in her classroom.

Sherine believes it’s important to maintain the Egyptian identity and heritage, “It’s who I am on the inside. And despite the thirty-six years I’ve been in the States, I still have an accent that comes through. People ask me where I’m from, and I proudly say, “I’m from Egypt!”

Sherine celebrates Egyptian holidays and prepares Egyptian food. She is known for her “yummy Koshary”, which she loves to cook and share with friends. And I can make a decent shorbet ‘ads (lentil soup)

As a gift to her family and friends, Sherine also takes pleasure in blending her own bharat spice mix and pairing it with her lentil soup recipe. She acknowledges her husband, Carl, who is a skilled cook and shares her passion for Egyptian cuisine. Carl often surprises her with delicious vegan versions of traditional dishes like stewed okra and ful medamis. “We’ve been vegan for over ten years now,” she explains. 

Sherine reflected on her visits to Egypt and her family’s current situation. “My dad passed away many years ago,” she recalled. “Now, my mom and two sisters live in the States, so I visit them here. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to Egypt.”

Seeing the Egyptian flag, hearing the Egyptian anthem, or listening to Egyptian music evokes mixed feelings in Sherine. She experiences both happiness for the cherished memories she carries and sadness for being far from her friends and the Mediterranean Sea. “Until now, every time I find myself going through a particularly difficult time, I go on YouTube and listen to Egyptian songs. The songs are a soothing balm that ground me, that make me focus on what is important, and that help me through the hardships that life throws in everyone’s way.”    

When asked if she had encountered any cultural or societal challenges, Sherine responded that in general people accepted her. Nonetheless there some challenges along the way. “When I first got married, I heard people saying I did it, not out of love for my husband, but to get the green card and citizenship. We’ve been married for thirty-five years now, so this should put that assumption to bed. Then, there were people who looked at my outgoing personality as fake. I had to explain that Egyptians are typically social, bubbly, light-hearted individuals who love to get together with others, laugh, and crack jokes. 

Still, every time I organized a gathering for my coworkers, there were a few who looked at me suspiciously. Over time, though, people realized I was being Egyptian me, and they warmed up to my social gatherings and drive to create a fun atmosphere. 

They also readily accepted help when they needed it and gave it back in return. It was understood that there were no strings attached to doing something kind or friendly.

On a few rare occasions, I worked with coworkers who did not understand my fasting during Ramadan. At my second job, I sat beside an interior designer who would run her sandwich under my nose every day I was fasting. “Smell this delicious sandwich,” she would say. “You want a bite, don’t you? I’d be happy to give you a piece.” Even when other coworkers told her to stop, she did not. She looked at my fasting as being controlled. She could not understand how I would willingly and freely not eat or drink all day. I don’t think she ever got it,” she said.  

Sherine believes it is extremely important for immigrants to integrate into the society. “This does not mean that we shed our values or traditions. It means that we accept and respect the new community into which we are moving so that others in the community reciprocate. By reaching out, by being sociable, by helping, and by volunteering, we build bridges. And the stronger these bridges, the happier we will be. We cannot look down on people of other ethnicities and religions and expect our new community to respect Egyptians. We reap what we sow. If we spread tolerance and kindness, we will receive it.” 

And for Egyptian women who are considering moving to or are currently living in the USA she says, “the USA is a place full of opportunity for those who work extra hard. As a woman and a foreigner, I worked to the point of collapse to integrate into the new culture, to understand both the professional and societal standards, and to rise to meet expectations. It was a difficult road, but so worth it in the end. My advice to other Egyptian women is the following: stay strong, work hard, believe in yourself, prove your worth, and don’t take anything for granted.” 

Among her most memorable moments in the USA, Sherine recalls an incident that she describes will remain forever with her. “On 9/11, when al-Qaeda terrorists crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center and killed almost 3,000 innocent people, there was an anti-Arab sentiment that rose in the country. There were people who looked at all Arabs as one large, unified, terrorist group. In their eyes, all Arabs had condoned and were responsible for this horrific act. It was one of the few times when I found myself scared for my safety and my daughter’s safety. I had never concealed my ethnicity, and I didn’t know if someone with evil intentions would come after us. So, when someone knocked on our door at an unexpected time one morning, my heart died. I opened the door with great trepidation and found myself facing Mary Johnson, the mother of one of my former coworkers. However, instead of carrying threats, in her hands she held a Tibetan kata scarf, which she kindly and graciously gave me along with the warmest hug. Then, while looking straight into my eyes, she said, “You are not them.” As I crumbled into her arms, sobbing, she gently added, “You are love. May this scarf remind you that you are welcome here, and may it bring you peace.” Her warmth, thoughtfulness, and kindness filled me with hope and faith.   

            Mary Johnson passed away a few years ago, and I wish her beautiful soul eternal peace. She was one of the best people I have ever had the honor of meeting. She was, hands down, a paragon of angels.”