Hi

Hey!

I Have Decided

Saudi Arabia is a place where if you don’t get good enough grades in high school, you can always become a teacher. Only a few become teachers because they’re actually passionate about teaching.

In all the 11.5 years I’ve been studying, only about four teachers stood out. The first two stood out because the way they taught showed that they actually wanted to make a difference in the world, in us. They respected us and treated us like we were people; people that could make a change. They broadened our minds in ways we couldn’t imagine. The third stood out because she was really passionate about teaching. She never cared about grades. All she wanted to do is make us learn. I still remember every single thing she taught us. The last stood out because it showed that she loved her subject. And that when she decided to become a teacher, it was because she wanted to spend the rest of her life with the subject she picked.

Four teachers out of, what? 72 teachers? And that’s REALLY understating the number. It’s sad, really. A teacher has tremendous powers. An English teacher, for example, spends 40 minutes a day with a classroom full of students who are easily influenced. That means she spends more than 200 minutes a week/93.3 hours a year with them. That’s a lot of time. In that time, a teacher could easily make a student believe that she can do whatever she wants and at the same time, could crush every ounce of confidence in that very student. A teacher could broaden our minds and make us think globally or fill our minds with prejudice. A teacher could make an Einstein out of a student or make her feel like she is one of the stupidest people on the face of the earth.

I’m a young person. My thoughts and views about this world are still developing. I know this sounds cliché, but our brains are like a sponge. I’ve been taught by a lot of teachers throughout the years that have taught us wrong things and I’m not talking from an academic point of view. I luckily, am blessed with amazing parents and siblings that have taught me how to differentiate between right and wrong, and how to question things and not just hear them and believe. But others aren’t. If a teacher makes an effort to really teach us, I think she could change our future.

I’ve always believed that becoming a teacher should be one of the toughest things. There should be standards like having decent grades, having the ability to actually explain what you know and being passionate about teaching. If the person is a genius but can’t explain what he/she knows then what’s the point of being a teacher? I know those characteristics are very hard to measure, but imagine every teacher being a great one because of them. Imagine a young generation made up of thinkers, innovators and passionate people all because of these teachers. They are the future, and the future seems a little bit brighter now.

Three years ago, I would have told you that I would never become a teacher no matter what. Yesterday, I would have told you that I wouldn’t mind being a teacher of a club at our school for one semester. Today, I have decided that if in 10 years time, I somehow ended up being a teacher, I wouldn’t mind at all.

This guy is amazing.

TTFN.

The War Has Begun, And I’m Losing.

Finals just started which means the war between my will to not fail 12^th grade and the demons of procrastination just did too. The first two days went great. I made a plan –two hours for every chapter with 10 minute breaks between them- and actually stuck to it. I even managed to finish before time the second day. Basically, I was on a roll.

My determination started deteriorating the next couple of days. I started getting distracted by the simplest of things. I once saw a file on the table and started to throw it in the air. Just throwing it. Where’s the fun in that? Fortunately, I realized what I was doing and stopped about two minutes later. Then I started singing Backstreet Boys’ songs and Disney ones too. Any normal person wouldn’t find that a problem but I’m really bad with multitasking which means when I sing something, I have to drop everything and actually focus on the singing part. Oh, and I also realized Backstreet Boys’ songs always get stuck in my head during finals. Maybe there’s a psychological/philosophical/emotional/childhoodical link between the two. I’m sure I’ll figure it out before the finals end. You know, because of all the “free time” I have.

Today was the worst yet. While I was studying, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I then turned around and looked at it and started laughing. The way I was sitting made my face look like it just gained 50 kilos and developed a triple chin along the way. I then spent the next 10 minutes in front of the mirror making different faces and laughing. The first five were spent taking pictures of my new chubby face and the other 5 minutes were spent inventing new ones.

My procrastination is even making me act extra nice to my 11 year-old sister. I actually called her into my room today and asked her what happened in school today. It’s not that I don’t talk with my sister. I actually enjoy spending time with her. It’s just that I sometimes get annoyed about the fact that she has a 15 minute-long report EVERY SINGLE DAY about what happened in school. Her life is like a never ending soap opera. I can be 6^th grade’s own “Gossip Girl” with all the information I get.

It seems like I’m getting worse by the minute. I’m seriously afraid that one day I might stop studying all together. I need to find a way to procrastinate procrastination. Soon.

Procrastination is searching for videos about procrastination and then watching them.

TTFN.

50 Things I Don’t Want to Do

I think this is one of the hardest things I’ve ever written. Mainly because, well, I want to do everything:

1. Eat any kind of insect.
2. Eat any kind of faeces.
3. Get plastic surgery. (Except if it’s necessary, of course.)
4. Watch Wuthering Heights the movie again (the 1992 version). I watched it after finishing the book in English class and I think it was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. No, I’m sure it was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. I get the fact that they can’t include every single detail in the movie because of time and budget but changing simple things like Cathy’s name written on a notebook instead of carved on the windowsill is just uncalled for. I don’t think that would’ve cost more than, what? Five riyals? The acting was awful.
   

   The Worst Movie Ever 🙂

   And the actors are nothing compared to the ones I imagined in my mind. I know they can’t create human beings and alter their looks like they want to but they could’ve at least picked actors that resembled the description in the book. A more dark toned Heathcliff for example? I honestly believe that if I acted out the whole movie by myself I would produce a better movie.  Okay, I think that’s enough ranting for today. Anyway, read the book. Don’t watch the movie.

5. Take a physics, chemistry and Arabic test.  I don’t mind the learning part. Newton’s laws are pretty interesting to me it’s just that I hate memorizing and the feeling I get before I enter an exam (shortness of breath, butterflies in my stomach, can’t walk properly, laughing uncontrollably, etc…). I’m not being a drama queen here. These things really do happen.
6. Become a singer. Not that my voice is good enough to become one, anyway.
7. Go to war.

I’m sure that list would reach 50 someday but I can’t really think of something I don’t want to do right now. I looked at the room I’m sitting in for inspiration but that didn’t really help. In fact, it just gave more things to add to my unwritten list of Things I Want to Do. I was going to write “Jumping off the balcony” but then I thought to myself that if someone guaranteed my safety I would jump off of it right now. It’s the breaking-all-my-bones and possibly-dying parts that stop me.

I have a love-hate relationship with me wanting to do everything. I hate it because it sets me up for a lot of disappointment.  Even though I really want to become a bird for one day, for example, I know I won’t ever suddenly grow wings and fly over the Arabian Sea. And I love it because it keeps me motivated to do all kind of things.

Wish of the Day

If I happen to bump into a genie today I would wish something along the lines of this:

I would wish for the ability to master a skill in 5 days. I would have said one day or even a second but where is the fun in that? Learning the skill and facing some obstacles along the way is half the fun. I would be a public speaking guru or ace every test in school because I have mastered the art of test taking. I would bake the perfect soufflé or maybe even finally be able to dive into a pool. And I would master the art of persuasion. Countries would call me to convince others not to bomb them. Students would call me to convince their teachers to postpone the exam.

On a side note:
I’ve always wanted a rocking chair and I’ve been looking for one since we moved. I found quite a few but never the right one.

One day, I came back from school and found this in my room:

They teased me about my surprise birthday gift for about two months to the point that I told them that no gift is worth this torture and that they should just forget about. I’m a very curious person so “torture” was a perfect word for what I was going through. But it was worth it.  I laughed so hard when I saw it! My friends know me too well.

Travel the world and meet all 6.5 billion humans on this earth and you won’t find great friends like these.

TTFN!