Razan Alaqeel's

"How did the vacation fly so fast?" A question.  A question which came from my twelve-year-old brother.  I stopped for a moment and thought about it, and it actually made some sense. His phrase wasn't a truth, it was a reality, an opinion which came from a normal person.  And according to my new English teacher, we can also call it a subjective.   What have we done to feel like these two months flew so fast?  If I think about it now, the only things that I remember are happy moments with my cousins and family.  There's nothing more precious than to spend a day with them, because we're emotionally attached to each other, we love and care about each other.  I had a flashback, and remembered the first week of the vacation, and the day that I received my report card.  Believe me when I say that that day wasn't a good one, I felt like a complete loser.  But, I went back home and had to face my parents with the ugly truth.  I hid the report ca...

                                                               One of the best days in my entire life.  Today was very special, and there are some things that have changed in me in those twenty-four hours.  We'll never know how blessed we are with our health, because we've never experienced a major pain, or been through a surgery.  Our strength is always hidden, until something huge attacks our bodies.  Our hope increases because we still have life inside of us, and around us by those who love and support us.  I don't know how to explain my feelings: Am I sad?  Or am I inspired?  ''Where there is life, there is hope." This is the motto of the foundation that I visited this morning.  Last month, a very unusual idea came to my mind.  I had the desire of visiting children with cancer....

Another summer in Istanbul, but now, we're here for two weeks not only two days!  Today has been crazy and weird. but weird is good, right?  We arrived here at six in the morning, then came directly to the hotel, checked-in, ate everything at the breakfast buffet, and slept until 4:30 pm. I was interrupted by some, claps.  Yes, some people were shouting and clapping in the street.  The first thing that came to my mind was: a protest. -don't blame me, I guess that I'm influenced by the Arabic Spring-  So, I called the reception desk and asked about that craziness that was going on outside.  They told me that everything was fine, and that those people were...celebrating.  Ten minutes later, I heard a loud, noisy song, and I realized that those people will never stop!  I ignored them, and like any human in this world, went back to sleep. As usual, I woke up on the sound of a knock on the door.  I'm the little sis, that why I was the on...

     It’s the first page of this new mysterious book.  We shall read it and live it, we shall enjoy it, and we shall love it.  We’re in the beginning of a new journey, we're in the start of our big race that we shall win.  We’ve written our new resolutions wishing to mark a check beside each one.  We’ve said goodbye to last year’s mistakes, and welcomed the new ones with opened arms, knowing that we will for sure learn something good from them.        We’ve set a line for our life, we’ve dreamed of a better year, we’ve spread the love amongst those whom we love.  The first pages are starting to be interesting, we’ve done so much in only three days, we’ve studied for our finals, we laughed from our hearts over stupid and important subjects.       2012 was one of my best years, actually, I believe that the whole world had a blast living that year!  Some countries have elected new presidents.  Some ...

     Let me try to put this together.  I just said goodbye to my park, my second house.   I just said goodbye to my second family, to the people who have affected my life.  I  just said goodbye to the nine hundred volunteers who came from all over the city to do one thing, to help.      Today was…kind of sad, but funny in the same time.  It was mixed with anger, but it had its happy moments in the same time.  We planned for something huge and spectacular, but nothing amazing really happened.      I just want to say to the volunteers that we don't need a party to celebrate our success.  Because we are champions.  Because we were taking care of more than five thousand people everyday.  Because we smiled.  Because we had fun.  Because we were spreading out some positive vibes around the park.  Because we were ready to face any challenge.      Things can go out of con...

     They say that I was born fifteen years ago at this particular time.  My father says that the family's life was completely changed, and my mother says that that year brought growth and happiness to the world.      November 9 th , 1997 was the day.  It was the day when I first breathed the air of Alahssa, it was the day when I first saw the sun, it was the day when everyone welcomed me to the world.  When I look back now and remember some memories of my life, I see a kid who wanted to play with her Barbies, I see her holding the pencil writing her first words.  I also see a girl who give her first speech, and I see her trying to write her first essay.  I see a teenager who determines that she wants to be a writer, I see her writing her first organized essay with her bad handwriting, I see her giving more speeches, and I see her grow up with more confidence and dreams.      Fifteen years are so great...

      The first official interview is the most scary part of the grownups world.  Today I went through one of the most interesting experiences in my life, today I did my first official interview.  I  didn't  know what to say, or how to act, but, I also felt relaxed in the same time.  I wanted to have some confidence, I wanted to make a good first impression, I wanted to stop shaking, and I just wanted to show them my real personality at the same time.       I realized that being scared can help a lot, because when you're scared you would want to tell them everything about you.  You want them to feel amazed, you want to draw a smile on their faces, and you want to be accepted.  Extra confidence can harm a little bit, but in interviews everything counts.  The way you sit, the way you move your hands, the way you talk, and maybe the way you breathe.     Smiling is a great weapon to wi...