My Graduation day!!

The best day for my dad was my graduation day. It was the day my dad was waiting for 14 years. He always used to tell me "Mohamed give an effort on your study and you'll feel it in your graduation day". And I did, I couldn't stop smiling for 4 days. I used to wake up in the morning and look at the distingsion certificate and smile, and the same thing before I go sleep. It was a day I would never forget.

Before the graduation day all the students were shopping and going to the gym and do many other things to look good in the graduation day. And I was doing the same thing, I went to the beach and got tanned while sailing, went to the barber and cut my hair, went shopping, and went to the gym. I was so nervous when I went shopping for a graduation suit, I went to 3 malls and didn't like any thing in them. I finally called my dad and asked for his help, and he took me to one of the best suit shops. Then he choose for me a black suit with a leather shoe and an amazing tie. I felt happy that day and thanked my dad for the help.

On the graduation day I took a bath, wore my suit for the first time, and had some accessories with me too. My dad, mom, brothers, and sister were all helping me look good. My dad was fixing my ties, my mom was fixing my hair, my brothers were helping me wear my cloth, and my sister was holding my accessories. They were all cheering me up as I was so nervous. And before I go out my mom had my graduation rope and hat in a small bag and gave me advices into how to wear it.

Before I go out of the house I felt a little bit down because none of my brothers neither my sister can come to the graduation because they had their final exams. And the main things that was taking my whole thoughts was, would my mother come to my graduation or not? Because she had to help my sister study for the final exam. After that my dad looked at me and he smiled, he really cheered my up by that look. Then we went the graduation, it was in the Rotana plaza hotel which is really gorgeous. I stepped out of the car and walked inside the lobby to the royal section where the graduation took place. I saw my friends and went toward them and started talking.

I really felt nervous and disappointed before the start because my girl friend and most of my friends couldn't come because they have exams. But still I was holding my self. We took photos together. My classmates cheered me up by the jokes and funny comments they started making on each other. Then they gathered us and made us walk after each other as we practices before. A girl and a guy had to walk beside each other while entering the graduation room. We entered inside and we were really amazed by the place, people, and cameras picturing us. And then we entered and sat on the chairs.

The graduation started with the National song followed by the Quran. We were all nervous because we didn't know our grades or what are we going to get. I was really nervous about this thing I wanted to know if I got above 90% and get a distingsion certificate or above 85% and get honor certificate. Until my turn came the school principle said " Mohamed AL Obaidli with distigsion", and I felt really happy, and what made me feel even happier was when I saw my dad and mom waving to me. I held my breath and walked to my certificate. And as soon as I held it 100 flashed were on my eye, it was a feeling mixed with fear, excitement, and happiness.

At the end of the graduation the school principle thanked us the graduated students for class 2006 and we threw the hats up in the air. And by mistake my hat fell on the graduation cake and I started laughing with my best friend which knew it was my hat. Every one was busy and didn't even realize that it was my hat. Then I went toward my dad and mom's table. And I could see the tears in my mom's eye as I was coming close to her. I hugged my dad first and then my mom, they were really happy. I'm pleased to see the smile on their faces, thing is the happiest moments in my whole life.

Soccer tournament!!

We were sitting in the gym when our P.E teacher came toward us smiling, he told us that he has a good news to us. We asked him what was it, he answer by saying “ you got accepted to the I.F.T”. We were astonished, a big smile was on our faces. We never thought that we would ever play in a tournament like this. The International soccer tournament, that took place in Dubai contains the strongest youth soccer teams in Africa and Asia. Our team was the only team from Abu Dhabi. This event is an important sport event in U.A.E.
The next step was getting ready for the tournament and choosing the team players. Our couch took two days to choose the team members due to the fact that our school has many good foot ball players.

On the third day he gathered all the football players which were 50 players from different classes and he choose 11 main players and 5 substitutes. I was standing next to my best friend waiting for the announcement. He started by saying the striker names , the wings, the midfield, and finally as he said the defenders my heart beats started going faster and faster. I was chosen as a main defender. I really felt happy that moment. It was a breathtaking moments, to choose 16 players between 50 players was a really hard thing to do for the coach.
He trained us on a daily basis. He gave us different roles trying to find our potential abilities. And I tried to give my best on the training days. I was always there in front of the goal keeper defending the goal from the strikers. And I showed a great defending skills, therefore our coach choose me as a central main defender.

Before the tournament we met the school principle and he encouraged us and stated that he is going to give us all the financial support we need. This made us feel better and made our hopes up. The next step was getting our team uniform, it looked gorgeous having the yellow shirts and black shorts. And it had also our names and numbers. And my shirt had my favorite number which is 47and on top of it my family name. It looked cool, and me and my best friend Bader which is the main striker in the team bought the latest addidas shoes to look stylish while playing.

On the tournament day we got really shocked by the number of teams and players on the field. The place had 4 pitches and there was a schedule of the matches. So we had a look on that and then went to the changing room and changed our cloth. As soon as we went out of the fitting room almost all the teams were looking at us. We looked like lions, our physical shapes were large and fit. We attracted all the other teams to us.

Then we gathered near our coach, and he started talking about the other teams and our matches. Our first match was against scorpion team. We took our places on the field and started warming up for the game. As the referee started the game we attacked their goal and after the 4th try Bader our best striker scored the goal. Then we continued defending and attacking till we won the game by 3 goals. The coach was very pleased with our performance and he was happy for my defending skills. I gave a big effort defending the goal. And just before the last match while I was going on a counter attack I terrible thing happened. I passed two midfields and just before I pass the ball to Bader two defenders slide under me and injured my ankle. I couldn’t move and the referee stopped the game and my ankle was being treated by the doctor.Then our coach pulled me off the game, due to my injury. I was able to walk but I felt a little pain and my coach was scared that it gets more dangerous so he made me rest for two games.

On these two games our team won one and lost the other. So we had our final match against Nigeria to either get the 2nd or 3rd place. Our couch made a new formation and I was a substitute. And as the game started the pressure was all from our team and after 20 min it was the opposite. The other team used the wings to pass the ball over the defenders. And I just couldn’t stand sitting and watching that happen. So I tried to convince the coach to get me into the game and he wouldn’t accept. I lost my nerves and kept shooting the practice balls on the other field till the coach called me after the 2nd goal and told me to wear my shirt. Then I ran into the center of defense which is my position and shouted to my other team members as I saw the smile of their faces when I got in. I told them to increase the attack and leave the defense on the defenders and me. We gave our best that game. The Nigerian strikers had an incredible speed but they couldn’t pass our defense. And in the lost time a ball passed one of the defense and I saw the striker running toward it. I couldn’t leave him alone so I ran after him with my whole speed and my ankle was hurting me but I didn’t stop I was aiming for the ball, and thanks god just as he was trying to shoot I kicked the ball in front of his leg and starting running on the side with it. Bader was free away from the defenders so I passed the ball to him and he scored an amazing goal. Then next thing we heard was the referee’s whistle. We started jumping and singing and we held our couch up and through him in the air and held him again. We really felt happy, it was our first international tournament and we made it and achieved the 2nd place.

Our Trip to Atlanta !!!

During fall break we had many trips to go to, but we couldn’t go to them all. The most charming one was our trip to Atlanta. It was one of a kind, and we had a lot of fun. The trip was two days, but we felt it was less due to the joyful time we had.

Every thing was planned two days before the trip. We had our hotel reserved, a time schedule of the events, the car ready, the money ready, and our spirits ready for all the fun.

On the first day for the trip we all had everything ready in the morning. Then we all gathered in Salem’s apartment and after it we started our trip to Atlanta. The members of the trip were Rashed, Abdulla, Ali, Salem, Ahmed, and me Mohamed. We had the chairs down in the car so we can sit freely. We were dancing and laughing all the way to Atlanta.

It took us four hours to get to Atlanta, but we didn’t feel it because we were talking all the time. We were also driving in a crazy speed. The main reason was to keep our spirits up till we reach Atlanta.

As we reached Atlanta, the first thing we did was check in to the hotel. Then we went to an Iranian restaurant. The food was delicious and we were so full. The next step was checking the downtown. The downtown was full because it was a weekend day. We saw tall buildings, luxury cars, and many other attractive things. After all the fun and nightlife we had we went back to the hotel and slept.

The first thing that I saw in the next morning was the room service maid. I was half naked in the bed and I thought she was a robber. I stared at her for two minutes then she said “I’m sorry sir and went out side the room”. After that I slept again till it was 11 am. I woke up again and I took a fast shower and shaved fast too. I didn’t have breakfast because I didn’t feel hungry I just had a star bucks mocha. We went to panera bread for breakfast and planned for the day.

Our first destination was the Georgia Aquarium, It was the largest Aquarium I’ve ever seen in my life. It was really amazing from inside. We saw many different types of fish and marine life. There were many people inside and it was really huge in size. We had a nice tour in the place, saw a movie of the history of different types of sharks. It was a really interesting place. And the most enjoyable thing we did there was touching the sharks skin while they swim in an opened aquarium. It was a great moment. Another enjoyable thing we did was taking pictures with the photographers there. We caught them before they take our pictures. A funny thing happened there was that we never really saw Rashed, he was running from one aquarium to another with his camera. I think he didn’t miss anything.

Before going out we went to the gift shop and bought some necklaces and other gifts. We also had a funny character of us drawn before we went out. The picture was so funny, and the funniest character was Ali’s picture. After all this funny moments we went to a large mall. We had 3 hours to shop before we went back to Nashville. For two hours, I only saw two floors of the mall. I bought many things. And the brands there were really amazing. I found some really nice clothes.

And on our way back to Nashville we did the same thing as we did on our way to Atlanta. We had the chairs down to sit freely, and we were dancing and laughing all the way back to Nashville. We also bought some fireworks in the way back home. It was a really nice trip and we really enjoyed it. I hope we do this trip again in the future.