JIS TIMES The first ever edition

2014-2015

Volume 1 Issue 1

2

Delve into the WORLD of JIS CONTENT

Editor’s Letter Saudi National Day Bake Sale Competition Bookworm Festival International Day

...3

...5

...9

...10

...16

...20

...22

...29

...32

...37

...39

Art Exhibit Math Derby Self Esteem What’s on Your Mind? Tips for Effective Studying JIS Gallery

Volume 1 Issue 1

3

Editor’s

ear readers,

On behalf of the Journalism Club, I hereby welcome you to the

first edition of the 1st volume of the JIS Times magazine. It is our

honor to present you with the first publication of the 2014-2015 ac-

ademic year.

We apologize for the great delay and hence, inconvenience in publishing this

publication. In spite of these nuances, we, at the Journalism Club, can tell you

that your satisfaction is guaranteed! This magazine aims to bring light to matters

that aren’t limited to just academics and events which took place in the 1st and

2nd term at JIS, but rather other aspects affecting the life of an average student.

I’d like to take this moment to thank everyone who helped facilitate the pro-

duction of the magazine. A very special thanks to the talented photographers:

Syra Reyes(9H), Maricute Alibin(9H), and Hana Faiqoh(10H).We ask you read-

ers to take the time out to thoroughly go through the content of this publication,

and we are eagerly looking forward to your feedback. Thank you and I hope you

enjoy the magazine!

Sincerely,

Hanna Shehata Editor-in-Chief

D

Hasten

To glory and supremacy

Glorify the Creator of the heavens

And raise the green flag

Carrying the written light reflecting guidance

Repeat

Allahu Akbar

O my country

My country

Live as the glory of Muslims

Long live the King

For the flag

And the homeland

-Saudi National Anthem

Volume 1 Issue 1

5

King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud

founded modern day Saudi Arabia on Sept.

23, 1932. On this day, we celebrate our Na-

tional Day, a day of pride for everyone. Saudi

Arabia achieved great feats in a very short

time. King Abdulaziz united a fragile country

and built one of the fastest growing econo-

mies in the world. When oil was discovered

eight years after Saudi Arabia was founded, it

became a major player in politics and eco-

nomics.

On Sept. 22, 2014, Jubail International School

celebrated this day. The program started by

children carrying Saudi flags while they

marched in their childish innocence around

the gym. When the children got done with the

rounds, Saba Aldakheel from grade 10 began

the program as the official host. She spoke

about Saudi Arabian history and how it de-

veloped to be what it is today; she also spoke

of its importance in every person's life, from

Saudis to expatriates to everyone in the

world. Several documentaries took place after

this introduction giving further insight into

Saudi tradition and the kingdom establish-

ment; various grades had taken a part in ex-

plaining these documentaries.

The nightingales of grade 6 performed a Sau-

di dance which grabbed everyone's attention.

After the dance, Reem Nasir and Ceceil Al-

bakri from grade 12 asked the audience some

trivia questions about Saudi Arabia. As the

program reached to an ending, the girls of

grade 11 and 12 put on an enthralling dance

which made everyone in the gym join them.

The host ended the program with words of

gratitude to the country that provides mil-

lions of people with a safe shelter to live un-

der.

The day had ended with a smile on every-

one's face. Those present enjoyed every mo-

ment of that day and gathered useful infor-

mation about the country they are living in.

May God bless Saudi Arabia and keep it safe.

SAUDI NATIONAL DAY

By Saba Alldakheel (10H)

The first event of the year

Volume 1 Issue 1

6

day

Blast National

in-

Volume 1 Issue 1

7

It was on January 23rd, 2015 where the

world bid a sorrow farewell to the Custo-

dian of the two holy mosques, Abdullah

bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the king of Saudi

Arabia. King Abdullah left this world at

the age of 90, having ruled the kindgom

for over a decade. Under his rule, the

kingdom's betterment was sought after

and this was evident in the example of

women's rights reaching new heights

with respect to making them eligible to

vote for municipal councils.

Farewell, King Abdullah

A news so painstakingly shocking, it left the world in tears

The news of his passing away left a

pang in the hearts of the inhabitants

of his kingdom, both Saudis and non-

Saudis alike. This is so because the

late king's generosity was endless, his

love for his country prominent and his

charisma unmatched. However, as the

saying goes, "the show must go on",

and one fated departure led to the

arrival of the successor to the throne,

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

By Hanna Shehata (12H)

— George Bernard

food There’s no sincerer love than

the love of

Volume 1 Issue 1

9

It is the duty of the respective Student Council to bring flavor and joy to the otherwise mon-

otone days of the student body. This academic year's Student Council took a notorious

event, the bake sale, an unprecedented step further by hosting class bake sales and having

them compete with each other. The president of the girl's side, Reem Nasir, had given

grades 6 to 12 specific criteria as to what they would have to bake or make. The motivating

factor for them was a Movie Day with a free delicacy. The criteria assigned to classes were:

The competition revolved around which class would get the most food and sell the most

goods, making the highest profit. At the end of the day, Grade 9 was the winner and were

awarded with the movie "Mom's day out" and free McDonald's Big Macs.

Sale Bake

C mpetition

Where teamwork and taste buds are put to the

Cupcakes

Grade 6 Grade 8

Grade 11 Grade 10 Grade 9

Grade 12

Cookies

Savory Chocolate Cinnamon

Cakes

Grade 7

Fruits

s no sincerer love than

By Aimen Sharafat (12H)

Are you the type of person who is so de-

voted to reading books? So devoted that

your fondness reminds you of a beetle

that feeds on the paper of book pages? In

other words, are you a bookworm? For

someone like you, there could undoubt-

edly be nothing more marvelous than an

enormous get-together for students who

are just as passionate as you are!

To make this come to a reality, the Stu-

dent Council of Jubail International

School conducted a Bookworm Festival

event on December 18th 2014, giving stu-

dents an opportunity to get to know oth-

er bookworms and share strong interest

in reading with each other.

The event began with a session of Book-

Movie Adaptations, hosted by the higher-

grade English Teacher, Mrs. Duella Boby.

The stories chosen were mainly the ex-

tremely popular ones and those that

have captured the hearts of numerous

teenagers of nowadays, ranging from Di-

vergent to Catching Fire.

Movies related to the passages were

watched, and the paragraphs read out

were too familiar to the students and a

lot of them even had the lines committed

to memory. Additionally, students had to

spot certain differences between the par-

agraph in the story and the part of the

movie played. This can teach students

how movies are not always a copy-paste

of the original book, and give them rea-

sons to favor books over movies or vice

versa.

THE Bookworm FESTIVAL

Allowing students with mile long imagina-

tions and artistic skills to unleash their tal-

ents, a competition was carried out where a

synopsis of a certain story was read out loud

and participants were required to draw how

they assumed or supposed the cover of the

book would strike them as. Furthermore,

several book covers were serially displayed

“Maybe every once in a while, young indi-

viduals should be allowed to share their

ideas with one another..”

Finally, an opportunity was given to all the read-

ers to share their favourite excerpt from a novel

and explain the reason behind their cherishing

it. Whether it was a major or subsidiary idea,

the students were able to speak on stage about

their impression of their chosen passage and

what its significance symbolized to them. In

general, the passages selected by the students

were morally insightful.

Maybe every once in a while, young individ-

uals should be allowed to share their ideas

with one another, show themselves to the

world and practice their most preferred

hobbies or fancies. Hence, in just a school,

with several other bookworms, gave the

individual a sense of appreciation and be-

longing, and most importantly, the ability

and confidence to enjoy their crazes more

openly and comfortably with others who

shared similar feelings and outlooks.

By Baylasan Shakhshir (10H)

Volume 1 Issue 1

12

Ebola Awareness

An event inspired by the growing epidemic

In February 2014, news of the biggest out-

break of the deadly disease called Ebola

spread like wild fire. The outbreak ema-

nated from West Africa, one of the many

territories where the Ebola virus resides.

The world watched in horror as headlines

flashed day and night across TV screens;

the death toll from this eerie disease not

intending to cease rising. Preventive

measures were universally advocated by

institutions from all branches of society.

JIS was no exception to that.

Grade 12 of the Girls’ section took it upon

itself to carry out the auspicious task of

educating the student body about Ebola;

its origin, transmission, signs and symp-

toms and treatment. The program com-

menced with an interactive presentation

conducted by the class teacher of grade

12, Mrs. Nazia Matloob, who proceeded to

shed light on the ambiguity that surround-

ed the whole Ebola ordeal and thus

quenched the thirst of those seeking fur-

ther insight regarding this morbid disease.

Volume 1 Issue 1

13

Further into the presentation, as Ms.

Nazia Matloob began to discuss the

method of transmission of Ebola, a skit

corresponding to the topic in question

began to unfold on stage as students

looked on. The skit, in a nutshell,

showed how the Ebola virus was trans-

mitted, or in other words , passed on

from primates such as monkeys to hu-

mans which came in direct contact with

the infected monkeys. The aim behind

the demonstration under gone by our

grade 12 was simply to reinforce the

information absorbed in the presenta-

tion.

Not only did the skit serve an educa-

tional purpose, it was highly entertain-

ing to watch due to the fact that the

seniors had to act out the roles of a

monkey and colony of Ebola viruses.

It's worth mentioning here the great

effort put in by Ceceil Al-bakri to trans-

form her colleagues and herself into

suffering victims of Ebola. All in all, the

event had ended successfully with the

stu-

Right: Washing hands as a prevention ma-

neuver

Left: Ebola Presentation

By Hanna Shehata (12H)

Menjuah-juah Horas!

স্বাগতম

歡迎 Welkom

Willkommen

Καλώς Ήλθες

Hoş geldin

T O

Hoş geldin

歡迎

مرحبا

ようこ

ຍິ ນດີ ຕ້ອນຮັບ (

Swaagata

Selamat datang

স্বাগতম Swaagata

Aloha

fi'i

ᑐᑐ

ᑐ

Soo dhowow

Bienvenue!

Welcome

Welcome

خوش آمدید

DAY

T O

NA

TIO

NA

L INTER

Volume 1 Issue 1

16

By Hanna Shehata (12H)

It's that time of year again, a bustling period where the

raw prowess and spirit of the student body and staff are

gradually manifested transforming a place of learning into

a diverse, multicultural exhibit. It's the famous Interna-

tional Day. As the name suggests, the rich culture and tra-

ditions of iconic countries are hauled overseas; extensive

research, cooperation and simply creativity being the

method of shipment. It's the Journalism Club's honor to

shed light on this great day.

The process of International Day can be divided into 3

parts:

Choosing a country

Preparation for respective country

Display of respective country

The first step of choosing a country is a decision taken ei-

ther by the class or respective class teacher. As simple as

that may sound, it is not. An inspection of candidate coun-

tries is carried out by classes/staff. A country possessing a

profound, historic background such as Egypt or China, and

well known for its picturesque, natural scenery such as

Malaysia are prime candidates; in other words, a country

with a universally known trademark.

Among considerations are the level of difficulty of bring-

ing the country to life, type of cuisine, traditional clothing,

exuberant dances, and last but not least availability. Much

research has to be carried out by the students in order to

familiarize themselves with the aspects of various cul-

tures. Thus, as much as International Day is an entertain-

ing and leisure event, it is primarily a source of knowledge

for not only the parents, but the students.

Volume 1 Issue 1

17

All of those

factors are es-

sential to be

considered at

that point as

after having

chosen a country, difficulties may arise in

the preparation stage.

What actually is the preparation stage?

This is the time where the interpretation

of the chosen countries is manifested. Un-

der the heading 'preparation' falls an array

of activities ranging from gathering items

associated with the respective land to con-

structing World Wonders of the ancient or

modern world. From what I have seen, the

appearance of classes is a glimpse into a

country from either a general or trade-

mark based perspective. Although all clas-

ses tend to generally include attributes

pertaining to countries in terms of design,

some classes turn it several notches up on

the creativity scale by transforming their

rooms based upon a very scene centered

theme.

For example, grade 9 had chosen the hum-

ble land of Pakistan. The class had opted

to create an adaptation of a classic Paki-

stani wedding ceremony, the Mehndi.

On the other hand, classes which choose a

more general approach to the atmosphere

of their rooms opt for garnishes of curren-

cy, clothing, artifacts, photos of people of

authority and structures of landmarks.

Other aspects of the preparation stage in-

clude preparing outfits. It can be quite dis-

tressing to dress up somewhat identically

to the traditional clothing of a particular

country, especially countries not part of

the greater middle east where the means

by which one can obtain such a costume is

relatively difficult if not planned in ad-

vance. The preparation stage can last up

to the day of the event itself; the last

minutes leading up to mothers being per-

mitted entry into a colourful, diverse

world. Those last couple of minutes can be

chaotic, however not an angry rampage

type of chaotic but rather a Tom and Jerry

styled chaos, quite humorous if I do say so

myself!

Volume 1 Issue 1

18

The last stage of this process leading up to

International Day is the day itself. Stu-

dents nervously pace in their master piec-

es, the rich aroma of spices and decadent

desserts envelop the halls.

I consider this stage as a grand finale as

once mothers start crowding rooms and

doorways, students forget their own races

and identities and try to their utmost abil-

ity to look, walk, talk and thus EMBRACE

their new nationalities as they welcome

mothers to their cultural lairs. And that's

the beauty of International Day.

A day where you can be someone else for

a change and manage to successfully pull

it off. A day where you're a Belgian milk-

maid happily dancing to the quirky beats

of Belgian folk music or a Greek goddess,

wreathed in white and not having felt this

enchantingly beautiful in so long.

One of the best parts of about this day is

the smiles it carves on parents', staff's, and

students' faces. In addition to the high-

lights, a guest native to the country you're

representing might occasionally grace the

room with her presence and gives a ges-

ture of approval that bespeaks the success

in portraying her country. Not only does

this gesture replenish students with a feel-

ing of self fulfillment but also a sense of

accomplishment.

In conclusion, International Day at JIS is a

testament to the saying, "the sky's the lim-

it". This year, like previous years, didn't fall

short in striking awe into the hearts of

those who walked upon the school

grounds.

Volume 1 Issue 1

19

Volume 1 Issue 1

20

ART Ex-On International Day, there was a display of mind blowing art-

work from the artistic students of grade 11H, Joanne Simpello

and Mai Muhammad.

Left: Mai

Right: Joanne

Volume 1 Issue 1

21

on screen in quick paces and then students were required to write as many titles of them

as they could possibly remember.

Left: M

ai

Right: Joanne

Volume 1 Issue 1

22

The Math Derby is a competition being held

in our school for the past several years. It is

where students can show their math skills

and become mathematicians for the day.

The competition consists of 2 rounds and

each grade is tested with questions from

their respective syllabus. All students have

to take part in the 1st round. The students

are faced with 20 challenging questions and

only a specific amount of time is given for

each question, which helps to enhance the

thinking abilities of students. This paper is

checked by the Math coordinator, Mrs.

Nighat.

The two students who achieve the highest

points are qualified for the 2nd round. In the

2nd round, 2 teams are formed from two stu-

dents of two different grades. These two

teams play a nerve-wrecking and exciting

game, and finally one team wins and holds

the title of the “Math Champions.”

MATH DERBY An event Einstein would approve of

By Aleena Waqar (12H)

Volume 1 Issue 1

23

Girls' Math Derby Results

Grade Winner Runner-Up

3H Mamoona Jamil Imane Labrahimi

3I Sarah Ijaz Reine Jamal

4H Leen Hakki Menah Mahmoud

4I Shahd Elamin Noor Aly

5H Aamirah Fatima Ruba Yasen

5I Sorfina Sazli Amna Rana

6H Sahlah Oluwakemi Adesina Abiha Rashid

6I Eisha Shafiq Danah Hamad Aldahmashi

7H Tahreem Fatima Marium Shahnawaz Abdin

8H Nur Anis Nabihah Sarah Badawi

9H Yasmin Alhamdah Nur Nalisa Hanim Shahrulhisham

10H Nur Nabilah Husna Ummu Salamah Shahrulzaman

11H Farah Yasen Anna Imad

12H Nancy Abdulaal Selwan Shakhshir

Volume 1 Issue 1

24

Boys' Math Derby Results

Grade Winner Runner-Up

3O Hayyan Muhammad Rana Abdul-Aziz Fadel Al Buainain

3P Muhammad Abugila Salem Abdul Qadir Ismail Saad Alaqra

3Q Marwan Ahmed Moawad Hanzla Hamid

4O Hashim Zaki Alsada Ihsan Zhafran Kanz

4P Ahmed Shafique Malik Zyad Ali Zain Elabideen

5O Ahmed Mamoun Zain Saqib Azam Khan

5P Faris Imran Faisal Majd Ismail Hakki

6O Kareem Khaled Assaf Amir Akbar Khan

6P Amro Himaid Farhan Mohammed

7O Ammar Himaid Mahjoub

7P Muttaqi Pandhiani Aashir Zaheer

8O Taha Ozair Timothy Diaz

8P Rashed Baker Hamed James Langdin

9O Dhruv Gupta Amsal Rashid

10O Omar Khan Muhammad Taha bin Saleem

11O Eyas Aldakheel Omar Tawfiq Mustafa

12O Osama Zaki Ramie Majid

Looks good, right? JIS is blessed with

such mouthwatering cheesiness every term

Volume 1 Issue 1

26

Pizza Day

Pizza Day is one of the many events

that take place in JIS, however it

stands out as a JIS classic. It started

a few years back and was known as

an event for students to look for-

ward to. Since most of us love pizza,

we all are waiting for this day. So

like every year we had Pizza Day

again. Many people bought pizza

and so as a result the profit earned

from this event was a lot. Every one

enjoyed their pizzas. Students and

teachers filled their empty stomachs

with delicious pizza. Student Council

members rushed down the hallways

to deliver pizza to the classes. It was

a very successful day and we hope

that next year’s Pizza Day will be the

same.

By Zahra Parveen (8H)

Volume 1 Issue 1

27

Of all the documents handed out to students by admin-

istrative figures, field trip forms are without doubt the

most common cause of delighted squeals and gushing,

and that applies to all grades. The prospects of a field

trip are many: no studying, freedom of dress, and inter-

action with colleagues outside of school.

In term 1, Sparky's in the Fanateer region was the desti-

nation for the lower grades, a haven for kids of that age.

It is an entertainment centre for families, housing suita-

ble rides and games for different age groups but is main-

ly targeted at children.

Operation: The Great Escape Code Name: butterflies

As for the upper grades, the venue for the predicted

mass selfie takings was Othaim Mall, in Khobar. Inside

the mall exists an indoor, small scale amusement arena

with great potential for awakening butterflies lying

dormant within the bellies of students. Compared to

Sparky's, the rides offered in Othaim Mall are much

more daring, hence the allocation of lower and upper

grades to atypical locations.

Volume 1 Issue 1

28

In general, a field trip day denotes colorful attires

as opposed to the ever blue uniform and a happy

ambiance at school. The image being painted is

children scampering through the hallways, unable

to contain their excitement that they'll be leaving

school grounds, and eagerness to show off their

carefully planned outfits. The older students, who

are considerably more composed than their jun-

iors, would be found loitering in scattered groups

taking advantage of the absence of lessons, and

thus engaging in varied, boisterous chatter.

“The prospects of a field trip are many; no studying,

freedom of dress, and interaction with colleagues

outside of school.”

When the designated field trips became a reality

no disgrace was brought to the essence of a field

trip as all students enjoyed themselves greatly

and came back to school feeling and looking satis-

fied. Yet another successful trip of JIS.

By Hanna Shehata (12H)

Tackling Low

Self—Esteem President of Girls’ Section Student Council

Reem Nasir

Volume 1 Issue 1

30

onfidence is a fickle thing. Acquiring it may be a task deemed impossible and hav-ing too much of it and in turn

wanting it to diffuse over the consistency of the attribute, can be even tougher.

There are people in the world unwilling and even too bashful to carry out trivial tasks as simple as inquiring about the price of an object from a salesperson and among them are people bursting with self acclaim and thus incite misleading notions of al-ways being one hundred percent right and are more commonly spotted as customers ready to pounce on the cashier and fight for the silliest things.

An important question I believe, is that how is one meant to find the balance be-tween these two compulsive personalities? How do you configure yourself to think highly of yourself but not beyond the point that you seem boastful and narcissistic?

What's the right amount of self confi-dence needed to become a healthy per-son?

It's true that some people are naturally born a little surer than others, more assertive and headstrong, but like most things, you can build this characteristic with time, slowly begin to open up to the possibility that yes, maybe someone in this room will agree with me, that my opinion is both valid and worth something, and that no, no one is go-ing to make fun of me for believing such and such or wearing this or liking that. The fact of the matter is, if you're absolutely right about something, it matters not who is

bound to say what, because you know that you're right and that should be enough. I persistently encourage students to step out of their comfort zones and speak up, sing and make a stand when it's needed.

Our communities nowadays have house-hold environments resulting in smart, stu-dious teenagers but if placed on a stage prepped for a speech they come up blank. I firmly believe that to rectify something the initiative should first be fishing out the source and root cause of the problem. What makes one student more inclined to speak up than the other?

Here's what I think When I individually visit classes and talk to students and inquire about their hobbies or talents, I always receive the same re-sponse, "I have no talent,", "I can't do any-thing,", "I'm not good at anything," and "I'm not going to bother because I know I can't." They laugh it off, but in truth this is

what they firmly believe. And it saddens me so much because all of them, abso-lutely all of them can make it to great-ness, all of them are worth something and shouldn't think so lowly of them-selves.

If you are among one of those students ut-terly convinced that your low self esteem is justified by the mere fact that you don't be-lieve in yourself enough, I can't tell you

how wrong you are. The world needs you to speak up, start being more sure and firm in your actions, your way of speech, your attitude and your mind. Take risks, if you find speaking in front of a crowd intimidat-

C

Volume 1 Issue 1

31

ing then school is a great place to start and shake off that fear by participat-ing in speeches and de-bates, etc.

By definition, self esteem refers to the mental pic-ture we have of our-selves. Think about it, when there's a task at hand, sometimes you as-sume you can't do it and other times, you immedi-ately believe that you can. Both of these assumptions are made, without you realis-ing, by the image you've painted of your-

self over the years. So, if you really want to build your self esteem, it's time to re-paint!

Take away any negativity you might have towards yourself, within the realms of be-ing realistic, start saying and believing you can instead of you can't. Paint a brighter picture of yourself and if you think it's ex-aggerated, work to become that person in your drawing.

It seems cliché but hon-estly, the way you think of yourself matters im-mensely and decides a million things you aren't aware of. Stop selling yourself short. Start ac-cepting small truths bun-dled in positivity about yourself and use them as a fuel to drive you for-ward, make you stand taller, having an impec-cable self-assurance that

people can be envious of. Take pride in any skills, abilities and accomplishments you've made no matter how minute they may seem; they matter, because you mat-ter, I believe that and it's about time you

started believing it, too. And once you start, never stop believing.

What’s On Your

Mind?

Volume 1 Issue 1

33

You don’t like your room? Change

it. Don't like that rule in your of-

fice that says you aren’t allowed to

drink coffee? Debate about it,

even if you don’t succeed the first

time, you might get a result the

second or third. You don’t like

your body?

Then, eat healthy, put on some

training shoes and go for a run. Life

passes us by and we sit and watch it

do so, a second gone is gone forev-

er and a chance lost is a chance you

won't get again.

Take chances, make mistakes and

learn from them. Live a life of "oh

wells" rather than "what ifs". We know our worth but settle for

less than what we deserve only

because we're afraid, afraid we

won't ever get better, or get any-

thing at all.

We act based on what others think

is right not what we believe is. We

know what annoys us, and we

don’t try to change it but we try to

cope with it.

Do what makes you happy and

what you want to do even if you

shouldn’t be doing it. Laugh out

loud because you feel like you

should, scream your lungs out be-

cause that’s what you want to do,

cry because that’s what you need to

do, drive fast just for the thrill of it

and dye your hair blue because it

feels more like you than anybody

else.

I sit here and I think. I think about

it all: humans, how we are and

what makes us that way; what we

do and why we do it. We're very

funny sometimes, we accept those

who hurt us and push away those

who don’t.

How to By Ceceil Al-Bakri

Be yourself and love that person be-

cause no one can ever love you

more than you and no one can make

you happier than you.

Volume 1 Issue 1

34

Steps for success in

life

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”, a saying by

George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright. In these days, we find a lot of people

who when fail at some task, never try doing it again which might lead them to quit

their jobs and careers. This is because they are scared of failing once more, however

there is always a solution for any problem.

In conclusion, always try to improve your qualities. Respect, love and help every-

one. Work harder to accomplish your goals and acknowledge the power within you.

get rid of the idea that failing means

you’re weak because the word fail

describes this: “First attempt in life”.

relate your dreams to your goals and work to

achieve them because if you aim at nothing, you

will hit nothing every time.

learn from your mistakes rather than

denying them.

surround yourself with people whocan

cheer you up and guide you to the right

path.

be eager to learn more and gather more

knowledge which would help you in fu-

ture. give respect to gain respect, and respect every-

one's opinion even if they have a different

opinion because being different doesn’t mean

that they are wrong.

speak up, no one can know your opinion

unless you say it.

try solving your problems and if you can’t

solve it by yourself, ask someone to help

you.

never underestimate yourself, have faith in

your self and always be honest.

Creating Saba Al-Dakheel

Volume 1 Issue 1

35

Baylasan Shakhshir As you read this, right at the

moment your eyes catch a

glimpse of these words, I am

going to fly you away with me

as I reminisce about my old

memories, ones that have been

long-buried in the back of my

mind. I am going to take you

back and let you watch a series

of never-ending flashbacks of

the long-gone days when I was

a toddler, when I would refuse

to let my mom spoon-feed me

because I thought I knew I could

do that by myself without spilling

some food and staining my

clothes.

Back when I would continuously

swing my small feet back and

forth as I sat on the edge of my

bed. Back when I would not let

my dad teach me how to write

the letter S, because even

though it was difficult I strongly

believed I needed no help – no

help at all. I am going to take

you back to the days I was dy-

ing to become a fearless grown-up, an independent person.

Those were the days I would

watch as the tenth graders hur-

ried up the stairs in fear of miss-

ing class and couldn’t help but

wonder how amazing it would

be to actually have responsibili-

ties. Yeah, didn’t we all think of

that? On other days, I would

stare at my full-body reflection

in the mirror for too long just

wondering how my physical ap-

pearance would change dramat-

ically when I became a teenag-

er. I looked at teenage years in

the life of an individual as holy,

memorable, and special, where-

as I looked at the childhood

years of an individual as,

“uninteresting years of learning

how to blossom into a mature

person”.

But as I am now a teenager, I

am starting to realize that all I’m

doing is learning to deal with

real life, and to blossom into

maturity, which ironically I

thought I had been doing as a

child. And if I continue to think

this way, I am going to unques-

tionably make a terrible mistake,

and that’s no laughing matter.

Sometimes, on the other hand, I

would stop and think, “This isn’t

life yet.” Well, mainly because

that is how we’ve all been

taught. I had a feeling eating me

alive, gnawing deep into my

flesh – I felt like I was still in the

womb; a yet unborn fetus hud-

dled up in the dark, unknowl-

edgeable of life entirely, inexpe-

rienced, and “too young”. I knew

I was alive, but I didn’t feel that I

was living. The day I would fi-

nally exit the womb and be ex-

posed to the “real world” used to

be a complete mystery to me,

but it was all I ever waited for.

There were days where my

mother and I would go shop-

ping, and naturally I wanted to

mimic her behavior and actions,

so I would find myself getting

myself some make-up that I

could scarcely apply to my face

the correct way, some hair-curlers and high-heels in which

my tiny feet would never fit.

That is mainly what children do,

and although I cannot deny the

fact that we did live as children

were meant to live, we could still

hardly wait any longer for the

day we would not be referred to

as “kids” anymore. Those were

the days we were highly oblivi-

ous to a number of things, for

instance: one day you are going

to hear your mother ask you to

prepare your own lunch, and

realize you might never relive

the days she used to feed you

by herself.

Bella’s Epiphany

Volume 1 Issue 1

36

One day you are going to sit on

the edge of the bed and get fear

-stricken at the realization that

your feet are no longer short

and can finally brush against the

floor. One day your father will

tell you he expects straight A’s

from you without finding it nec-

essary to teach you every word

you need to commit to

knowledge and memory for your

exams.

We were disconcertingly oblivi-

ous at how these realizations

are more oddly frightening than

they are satisfying. It is never

good to know the impossibility

of experiencing such harmless

days ever again.

The day such startling realiza-

tions began to strike me was in

eighth grade, when I looked

down on my blue frock, my

higher-grade uniform, and felt

absolutely no different. I started

to recall the times I was waiting

to get rid of my lower-grade uni-

form and finally replace my gray

frock with a blue one. And it

does make you feel different

and experience the change, but

maybe only for hours, and those

hours of feeling different un-

doubtedly will never replace the

years we spent being ungrateful

and needlessly impatient.

And now as I look at myself and

dive inordinately deep into my

thoughts, I feel as though I am

still the same size even when I

grew taller, and that I am still

the same person even when I

try to change to better myself

every day. I guess I have been

entirely wrong every year during

my birthday parties when I

would think that maybe, just

maybe, this year I would not

hear the saying, “but you’re still

too young”. I am certainly going

to consider myself too young

even when I have exceeded the

age of eighty, with white thin-

ning hair and wrinkled skin. The

truth is nobody will ever stop

being too young.

What bothers me here, you see,

is the idea that we have been

taught to think of this saying as

a bad thing, and to use it with

bad intentions, and feel inferior

when somebody uses it against

us, when it should rather be

about encouraging people to

dare to live, to try, to fail, to

dream and to achieve.

There also comes a point when

you realize that we have never

been taught to live in the now.

Living solely for the purpose of

not being too young or too old to

do or experience something

specific in life will lead you to a

wretched nowhere. Certainly, it

is great to look forward to things

in life, but if you spend your

weeks waiting for the weekends

to come by, your school months

waiting for summer vacations,

your school years waiting to

graduate, your college years

waiting to get a job, and your

working years waiting to retire,

know that you are wasting a

lifetime on days that will be for-

gotten and unappreciated.

The question still resonates non

-stop: “when am I ever going to

get out of the womb and experi-

ence real life?” Reality lies here:

you only do that once in a life-

time. Currently, you are not pre-

paring yourself for life, but you

already are alive, and the time

you start to deal with real life,

and experience being alive,

starts from the day you are born

onward, and continues through

childhood, teenage years, adult-

hood and ends at death. And

make sure that, after your

death, your words and ideas

remain imperishable. Last but

never least, hold this quote dear

to your heart:

“Your life is a series of moments in “now”. The better you make your “now”, the better you

make your life.” – Karen Salmansohn

Volume 1 Issue 1

37

As students, we all know how important get-ting the right ed-ucation is.. Stu-dents grapple with a lot of is-sues in their lives and be-cause of all the

competing things for their attention, it's hard to concentrate on studying. and since you're in school, you have to at least study from here to there in order to progress from year to year. The key to effective studying isn't cramming or studying for longer peri-ods of time, but studying smarter. We can begin to do so with the help of a few of these tips.

for Effective ing

1- Your way of approaching studying really matters.

A lot of people think of studying as a

necessary task, not an enjoyment or an

opportunity to learn. But don't worry,

that's actually a pretty normal thing. Re-

searchers have found out that how we

think of things matters almost as much

as what we do. Having a right mindset

helps.

2- Think positively when you study. Instead of thinking about things you

can't do, think about things that you

can do better than everyone else.

3- Avoid catastrophic thinking.

Instead of thinking,' I'm a complete

mess that can never get anything right,'

look at it like, 'I might not be the best

at everything that I do, but I'll work

hard and ace this test!' It's not necessary to always be in the

right mindset, so simply avoid studying

during such times. If you're distracted by

any kind of issue, just relax for a while,

so you can think straight afterwards. Get

back to studying as soon as you feel

mentally relieved.

Volume 1 Issue 1

38

4- Stop comparing yourself to others. You will most probably over think this one

out and eventually end up doing yourself

more harm than good. This sort of attitude

will always bring you down instead of

helping you back up.

5- Where you study is important, too! Most people make the mistake of studying

in a place that really isn't conductive to

concentrating. A place with too many dis-

tractions (take your living room for exam-

ple) makes for a poor studying area. Make

sure to choose quiet areas for studying.

6- Don't carry things you don't

need. Once you've found an ideal place to

study make sure to avoid getting

distracted. Sure, it may seem like a

great idea to type your notes on the

computer and refer to it later, but

trust me when I say that it is not

that awesome of an idea after all.

Because while typing out the notes

your mind is most likely to get

struck with the idea of surfing the

web for updates on your favorite tv

show, celebrities, and all those

things of interest. So ask yourself

whether you really need a computer

to take notes or whether you can

make do with the classic, old-fashioned paper and pen or pencil.

By Momina Naveed (8H)

Gallery JIS

The first

Volume 1 Issue 1

40

Speech Competition

Volume 1 Issue 1

41

Fun

Volume 1 Issue 1

42

Snow Day

Volume 1 Issue 1

43

Yell w Mellow

Volume 1 Issue 1

44

Red Day

Volume 1 Issue 1

45

Art Competition