I am Raad Saleh Al-Qahtani, a student at the Intermediate and Secondary School for Gifted Girls in Jeddah, and one of the students of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity. I scored 1666 on the Mawhiba scale. My story with Mawhiba is a story of proving my worth and achieving a dream. It is a story that has proven to myself before others that nothing is impossible and that every person has a touch that can change the course of things. Since I created an account on the Mawhiba portal - at the age of nine - I have been participating in everything Mawhiba offers, such as enrichment programs, competitions, and many others, to allow my mind to expand in various fields and to gain the most wonderful experiences. 

Until the day came when I saw an advertisement for a Mathematics and Science Talent Competition, so I decided to participate in the field of mathematics. I was a fifth grade student at the time (2016), and I felt very optimistic and excited about the competition, due to my love and passion for mathematics. I started training and preparing to take the electronic test, but I failed on the first attempt and did not complete any stage of the competition, and my score was very low. 

However, I did not lose hope and thought that the reason for my failure was related to my young age, and I decided to participate again the following year (2017) when I was in the sixth grade of primary school, but my second attempt failed the same way. I was very sad and saw that this competition was beyond my capabilities and that completing it was very difficult, and I did not plan to participate again.

I was inspired to participate again when I was in the first intermediate grade (2018) after meeting a girl who had achieved great success in this competition. I decided to participate the following year (2019), but in the field of chemistry - although I have little experience in this field - and the reason for my choice of this field was an opinion from my mother, may God protect her. When I participated, I was surprised by the ease of the electronic test, and I got an acceptable score. Then I was even more surprised by my nomination for the written test stage. Although I did not win any medal in the written test, I was nominated for the basic training stage. 

I faced many difficulties during the basic training phase, as I was forced to miss school days, and there were other obstacles, such as the distance between the training location and the problems I faced in the content presented - given my limited experience in it - and although I did not expect to complete the next stages following the basic training, I was nominated for the Winter Forum at Princess Noura University in Riyadh.

To be honest, I faced many difficulties in gathering the scientific material in Riyadh, and many different factors affected me at the time, but I tried with all my skills and abilities to change the course of things, but after taking the final exam, my highest hope was to be nominated for the next stage. Weeks after returning to Jeddah, I learned that I did not qualify for the next forum, but this time my failure increased my enthusiasm to participate again. I participated again until I reached the basic training stage, but the obstacle I faced this time was my participation in a research competition that the Ministry of Education is preparing for, and in the final stages, the days of the workshops for this competition conflicted with the days of the basic training for the Mawhib competition, so I had to be absent from the days of basic training to attend the research competition workshops, and my father - may God protect him - played a big and important role in facilitating transportation so that I could succeed in both competitions. Despite this great pressure and the conflict between two completely different competitions, thanks to God, I was nominated for the Winter Forum at Princess Noura University, and when I set foot in Riyadh, I promised myself that I would not return to Jeddah unless I had a great success.

 With effort, work, determination and persistence, on the day of the closing ceremony of the Winter Forum at Princess Nourah University on 14/1/2020, I was surprised and shocked when I heard the presenter of the ceremony pronounce “Gold Medalist in Chemistry Raad Al-Qahtani.” What?! My name is linked to the gold medal and I am a participating student among an elite group of strong and distinguished female students from all over the Kingdom! At that moment, feelings were mixed and letters and words clashed. While I was walking those few steps to receive my award, I began to see the words of encouragement that my mother used to send me during my exam preparation times as a real-life scene starring “me.” I learned then that winning is not only about experience or talent in the competition field, but also about determination, persistence and learning. Although I failed 3 times in a row, my first success was not just a nomination, but a nomination for a shield with the words “Gold Medal” written on it, and overcoming things that I thought would be an obstacle in my way to achieving a goal that had been written on the list of goals for four years. This success is still a simple starting point for me to continue, God willing, my journey in the Mawhib Competition (Chemistry Olympiad), and to represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in international competitions and forums in the best possible way.

Finally, I would like to thank, after God, the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, which played a major and significant role in developing my personality and way of thinking, and in providing me with many skills that it granted me and many others, through its enrichment programs, competitions, and wonderful initiatives. I also address a word to all the sons and daughters of our dear country: hold on to your dreams and goals, as long as you have a dear country that sponsors them, and a foundation that supports them, there is no reason to prevent you from stopping, as we all have roles in success stories, but not all of us are its heroes, and every matter and goal that you want to accomplish and achieve requires only one thing, to start now.

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