Mina Ali, 18 years old,
I study medical laboratory techniques (pathological analysis) Babil Governorate I started my own journey when I discovered my passion for writing, and I realized then that there is no more comfortable shoulder than writing to lean on. I made sure that this was true on a colorless night where everyone was asleep except for my pen, which was drawing my lonlinesson a blank piece of paper. My first steps were at the end of my first dream the desire to make another dream started, because life is meaningless without a person putting a dream at the end of their path so that running on the road has meaning. My dream of becoming a surgeon ended due to my poor academic level. I made another dream for which I decided to live. And I started dreaming of becoming a great author, this desire created yet another appetite for my life because what I want most now is to have the ability to reach the deepest point in the soul of humanity! But my desire alone to become an author was not enough, so I started practicing writing and weaving letters to make simple and prosaic texts. I was eager to find someone who applauded me, and this is what drove me to post my text on Facebook. I did not forget the comment of one of them who said to me (It is better that I Forget writing). I did not withdraw like a defeated soldier! Rather, I rushed towards what I wanted with greater passion, because without writing my thoughts would only reach the ceiling of my room, and this idea was terrifying me, as I am writing to release my thoughts towards the stars. Perhaps the greatest moment in my life was when my family started circulating my texts among themselves. I felt a stronger belonging to my family that I live with, and I knew then for the first time what it means for a person to have people who love you. What added to my pride was my participation in the book "Fruited and its harvest" with a group of young people. Seeing one of my texts in this book gave me the feeling that I had put a foot towards my literary journey, in which A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step that I aspire to. Likewise, I will not forget the day I graduated from twelfth grade after a hard effort and a psychological war that lasted for months; in which I threw all my obstacles behind my back and won! On the other hand, I am proud to work in a medical beauty center, and this job - and the feeling of a difficult road - gave me a feeling of self-sufficiency and a mature social experience. I grew up in a small neighborhood favoring males over females, and this culture had created in me the beginning of the rebellion against this pattern of customs and traditions. The city that left inside me a torch of rejection and standing in the face of backwardness and made me a girl who hates silence and loves to scream in letters forever. I spent my childhood carrying my extreme sensitivity towards things as well as my self-embarrassment because of my obesity . Here began the story of bullying that I was exposed to from the people around me, neither my family was not a refuge nor my friends were a homeI was just a child who hid everything inside and allowed it to continue and to grow, things remained locked It devoured me when I started puberty, and this prompted me to see a psychiatrist to treat all the scars inside me. Psychotherapy was one of the best experiences in my life because it brought me back to myself. I faced many obstacles, and I am still facing, and the greater the obstacles, the greater the thrill of victory. I overcame challenges because the torch of hope is burning within me, and it does not go out even when the winds of despair blow on it. And as Al-Tughrai said (I justify the soul with hopes, watching for it would be less of a life without the space of hope) Thus, the torch of my hope is my first support to standing in the face of challenges, and then my warm family and in particular my sisters who embraced that child who was inside me and trained me to live and gradually opened my eyes to life. The ones I found on social media, my very close, distant friends, who were the oil that shines light on my day's lantern. My next steps are reading the largest number of books and staying steadfast in my workplace, completing my studies and striving to print my first and most important book, making a deal with life that teaches me new experiences as I train it to laugh in the face of others! My message to the women of my country: Become a torch of rebellion and do not settle for less than what you deserve and do not walk the paths that everyone takes, forge your own path that resembles you and walk in it with love.
Image description. Two photos show the same women. In one, we see her from the shoulders up, against a dark background. She is facing the camera, wearing white hijab and a white blouse under a jacket with white, blue, and grey lines. In the other photo, she stands at the bottom of a staircase, which is next to a rose-colored marble wall. She is facing the camera, smiling, with her left hand on her hip.she wears pink hijab topped by a pink beret, a black turtleneck under a black jacket, and dark pink trousers.