We are the future! We decide whether the world is going to be a superior one or the opposite. It is our actions today that make a better tomorrow. All these are sentences that hold the key to our future. A key that will always be accessible to almost everyone. Everyone that is thriving to do his/her best. That key is our way to communicate with the rest of the world, to spread our knowledge and be blessed with even more.
Destructive Criticism, being pessimistic, and ignorance. All these are words that we as the Saudi society should scratch-out from our dictionary. Since these words are considered the barriers to our development.
Today we stand here, turning our knowledge and passions into actions that will shape the future of our country as whole. What made me think of these potentials that we as the youth possess, is a writing contest that I have recently entered that was sponsored by Otacuschez. Their topic was “How do I turn my passion and enthusiasm into actions that make Saudi a country that I’m proud of in 2020?” After staring at that topic for a few seconds I realized how much we have to offer, and how much we can do! Why can’t we turn what we like to do into something that makes both us and our country productive?
I have seen so many people, so many young Saudis with so much potential and enthusiasm that involve different types of interests including; Soccer, fashion, graphic design, Politics and writing. My hope is that one day these individuals will use their skills and develop them, turning the things they enjoy into “actions”, actions that will develop our country and the society as whole.
A friend of mine, Tala, started her own small fashion line called (T by Tala). If this was 20 years back, would you have thought that a young 16 year old would start her own fashion line here in Saudi? Impressive improvement right? Well, let’s continue that improvement. Another friend of mine, Mariam, has expanded her skills in Graphic design into abilities far more advanced than she was when it was just a hobby. She also plans on studying it in college to truly benefit her country and widen its advancement by doing the things she likes the most. This list can go on and on covering different majors, such as politics (Sumer and Samar!), and writing such as (Danya and Deema). It would be a wonderful application of those skills and passions if done in the service of our country. For me personally, I have a special passion for technology. I consider technology to be a whole different world beside the ‘real’ world we live in. It is a world where everything is possible. An exciting world that communicates so fast, making each individual’s life easier and more interesting. It is a world that has many aspects, features and opportunities that could be used to make Saudi Arabia the country that I’m proud to call home.
As girls here in Saudi, we cannot do what we want without being self- conscious about it. So I want to use technology to overcome such obstacles, and set ourselves free to grow and reach our potential. Through technology, I want Saudi girls to achieve their dreams, stand up and stand out. I believe that they can do just that it by knowing and using the modern tools of technology and advancements.
The young rising company of Otacuschez, which was actually founded by young Saudi’s, gave us the opportunity to turn these passions into pre-actions by leading the way. The winners of the contest were not granted presents like iPods and Blackberries. Instead, they were given something far more valuable, something that is not available to everyone. They offered us 3 workshops that covered the topics (writing, Goals, and starting your own business). A wide variety of different information granted as our gift. Their gift to us was the knowledge and different perspectives presented to us by highly impressive and trained key note speaker. The best present for the best contest.
We face problems proving our self as young creative minds in Saudi, especially when it comes to women. But we must never surrender to those who try to demolish our growing minds. We can grow by using our knowledge to improve and build up our country while holding our Islamic values near our side for the whole journey to come. Wrong misunderstanding some religious principles resulted in some wrong views, which most probably is the reason why we have so much to do and begin with. Yet we should slowly dig into these barriers and enhance the country that we know we can be proud of. We all know that by time, and by effort from people that want to spread knowledge, make a difference and in rich the mind of young Saudis, Saudi Arabia WILL be a country with strong principles, religious values, and a country that will be led by great leaders and young educated, creative, enthusiastic individuals that will lead the way to a better tomorrow.
Posted by Sara 
