ABU DHABI // A visually impaired teenager was among the country’s top-performing high school students honoured at a ceremony on Tuesday night.
Being blind at birth did not diminish Wafa Awadh’s desire to be among the best of her generation. The 17-year-old Emirati was among 150 top-performing pupils honoured at the Grade 12 Best Achievers Award Ceremony, in the capital.
Each graduate was handed a cheque for Dh20,000 and was personally greeted on stage by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and deputy chairman of Abu Dhabi Education Council.
An undisclosed number of high-achieving pupils were also given scholarships to help them to continue their studies.
They also met Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, the director of Adec.
Wafa, who graduated from Um Al Emarat School in Al Ain with an average of 97.3 per cent in the literary stream, thanked the country’s leaders, her family, and Adec, for their continued support of students with special needs.
“They looked at me and gave me a solution, they also helped me because we have one section for blind people and special needs,” she said.
“They look for them and they give them the assistance,” said Wafa, who wants to be a translator after completing her degree at UAE University.
She said she felt confident at school because she was equipped with a Braille Sense U2, a portable computer that allowed her to digitally store her textbooks, take notes and communicate with her teacher. She was also diligent about making time to study and review her work every night, she said.
Her advice to fellow pupils was that the way to achieving their best was to never give up.
“I say to them, keep trying and don’t be without hope. You should make a plan for your life and organise your time.”
Naif Abdulrazzaq, 17, from Ras Al Khaimah Secondary School, earned a 96.9 per cent average in the scientific stream, despite being visually impaired.
“I’m happy because I graduated and was honoured by Sheikh Mansour,” said Naif, who plans to study computer engineering at UAEU. “He gives me support and reinforcement.” Naif said he recorded his lessons and reviewed them daily after school. “I studied hard,” he said.
Ahmed Al Zaidi, 17, a graduate from the Institute of Applied Technology High School, also in the capital, said the secret to good grades was hard work.
“Many people say work smart, but don’t work hard. That’s wrong. If you don’t work hard, you won’t work smart,” said Ahmed, who graduated with an average of 98 per cent. “So keep up, practise and always keep a notebook with you. That’s the secret. When you want to revise a lesson, you should go over and over. Maybe six times, seven times. Each time you finish a lesson, you go back to the first and start revising again. That way you make sure the information will stick to your mind.”
Ahmed, who lives in Abu Dhabi and wants to study mechanical engineering at Khalifa University, was pleased to be among such a select group of graduates.
“It’s an honour for us all,” he said. “Sheikh Zayed said factories did not build men; men built the factories. That inspires me. I want to build factories. I look
up to Sheikh Zayed’s achievements, I want to be like him.”
Alyazia Al Shamsi, from Al Ain, who addressed the audience as the student representative, congratulated her peers and thanked families and officials.
Alyazia, a graduate of Al Hamadaniya School, scored 99.2 per cent in the scientific stream.
After the ceremony, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, at Al Bateen Palace received 23 male and female top scorers who attended schools supervised by Adec, state news agency Wam reported.
rpennington@thenational.ae
