 In 1917 he taught school in Tepelenë and Vlorë, and than in early 1919, Rustemi began further studies at the Arberesh College of Saint Adrian in San Demetrio Corone in Calabria.In the spring of 1919 in San Demetrio Corone, he formed the "League of the Albanian Youth" () for the defence of the Albanian nation.After a stay in Rome, he returned to Vlorë in the spring of 1920 and to the political chaos reigning in Albania.