The Story of A Young Girl From Lebanon
assalamualaikum hello everyone
this is sama awad the director of arabic
studies at gaa
today i will tell you a different story
today i will tell you why me
this story will show us that everyone
has the potential to change his or her
life
regardless of what we are going through
we need to believe accept
and love ourselves a story about
young palestinian refugee girl born
in 1986
and lost her mother in the same year
yes we can all agree
that this young lady faced a hard life
by her
by herself her life will not be easy
she grew up with her dad and her stepmom
in one of the palestinian camps in
lebanon
since her early years at school she
displayed
her leadership skills the people
around her noticed the compassion and
her leadership
that was due to her struggle with
obesity
and the way she coped with her
mother-loss
when you suffer in your life and feel
the pain
it makes more easy simply to telling
someone that you care
when you find yourself alone
it makes you feel deeply with another
person
as they experience the ups and downs in
life
that pain and sadness make it easier to
treat others with love compassion
empathy and understanding
she was bullied by most of the people
around her
because of her weight and how she ruined
her life
by not taking care of herself and her
health
imagine the main reason behind the
bullying was
the priest the stereotyping perspective
that she will not get married
this this elegant lady
knew that it was a very hard
and tough life for her you are now
wondering
what she did and how she faced that
issue
the constant pressure pushed her to eat
more
until she became an emotional eater
yeah she gained more weight
and to neglect her grade nine formal
examination
she faced a challenging and tough life
the only silver lining was her dad
believes in her she knew she was an
elegant girl
with a beautiful blue eyes after
everyone
yelled haram at her for being overweight
you know what haram mean true
this elegant lady decided to start
a new chapter in her life she drove
herself to study well
and ignore all of what she was facing
she believed in herself promised herself
and started working hard to finish high
school
and be ready for the university she
wanted to
to let all of the people around her know
that success does not
and will not ever depend on body image
and she can do
what she believes in what do you think
did this young lady achieve her goal
let’s see sama was the first girl in her
family to attend university in beirut
yeah
she left the small camp and
moved to the big city to map a new
journey
in her life she was able to do that
because she believed in herself
and she knew well that nothing will
change
if she does not start that change by
herself
she graduated from the university with
high honor degree
and one a third place competition
regarding or about the arabic language
and the current challenges
among all universities in lebanon
she broke the imaginary glass ceiling
placed on her by
the cultural beliefs and roles
she lost 35 kilogram
which made her a more confident
woman that strengthened
her passion to acquire knowledge
she became an excellent cook yeah
who made a very healthy and yummy food
she learned how to ride the bike at the
age of 34
during the pandemic situation
it’s a truly they called 2020 bandamic
situation
but for sama it was the year of
achievement
currently i’m working in a fantastic
school
gems american academy in a leadership
position
i finished my master’s degree in
educational leadership
with distinction at the age of 34
while i’m having two kids and full-time
job
not only that i enrolled myself
in the coaching master program
to be able to help other people find
their passion
i i began my self-care journey
long time ago and it’s now the time
to help other people during their life
journey
i started an instagram page to inspire
motivate and support other people
something that young sama could have
benefited from
now i indeed know why me
do you know why me
the ball is always in your court
and you can simply make a difference by
believing in yourself
we need always to remember that our life
is in our hand and we have the magic key
to changes
to change it you need to
find your passion set your goals
and move forward toward your dream
don’t forget to love yourself
and never give up much love
and god bless thank you