YES in the US
Our current ambassadors are making us beyond proud!
Our current ambassadors are making us beyond proud!
From Jbeil, Lebanon, he traveled the south, the north, and the midwest of the United States. With a shaky start it never stopped him to push through and have new experience in his live. Moving multiple schools and family never made him weak instead it made him learn from mistakes and gain experiences. He learned how to play multiple music instruments for the first time in his life. He played in multiple sport team including volleyball and soccer. His ambition of volunteering lead for the second half of the year to clock up to 50 in one month, and the goal to 100. He took classes that he genuinely loved and were so new to him like forensic class, public speaking, journalism and yearbook. Not to mention playing in concert bands. He is making the most of time that still remains. He has friends all over the united states, and was fortunate enough to see 1/5 of the country.
“When i was in Georgia and the Second Crisis mom was driving me to the airport, she asked me:” you moved so much, i am still surprised you don’t seem sad or weak about this!” Which I replied: “ people make mistakes, and people can’t always have what they want or they can’t force a bond with random people. But I’m here for the experience, it never is a perfect ride. It’s never been only highlights and successes, there is always downfalls and mine weren’t the best. Still i have to be strong and enjoy the time that i have since i will never be able to replace this year in my heart.”
All the way from the busy streets of Beirut, Lebanon to the quiet streets of Taylor Ridge, Illinois, Fahed tried dancing and speech for the first time. He was part of Rockridge's Dance Team for both seasons, Fall and Winter, where he learned new moves, acquired skills, and made new friendships. He also was part of Rockridge's Speech Team where he performed two poetry pieces written by the American Lebanese poet, Gibran Khalil Gibran, in which he got third place in Novice Poetry during one of the many meets that he went to. In his spare time, volunteering is one of his priorities. During Christmas time, he went to volunteer in Davenport's Festival of trees along with other exchange students in his area where he spent more than 16 hours in Reindeer Games and administration. Along with that, he has also been volunteering in the Kidszone in most of the Quad Cities Hockey Games. As an exchange student, one of his goals is to spread the beauty of Lebanon among his American classmates. So, in order to do that, he has been incorporating Lebanon in most of his artwork that he presents during his art classes.
"Speech has given me the power and confidence to talk and perform in front of people. While performing, I felt like I was Gibran Khalil Gibran talking to his lover."
"Volunteering at the Festival of Trees helped me get into the Christmas spirit given the fact that it is my first Christmas. In addition to that, seeing the smiles I've put on many kids' faces, whether it was when I was the Elf or mentoring the games, made my heart warm. Also during our time at the Festival of Trees, the exchange students in my cluster and I grew closer and closer, so I created a strong bond with them especially Hanin from Lebanon and Illya from Ukraine."
"Dance has helped me improve my attention span along with helping breaking the wall between me and other people."
"Being an exchange student is something that I’ve never thought about before, and I feel very lucky now that I had the chance to experience such a great opportunity."
"I can’t be any prouder and I don’t want to stop here, because I don’t want to miss out on the great things life can offer me."
Three months after he arrived to the US, he joined the swim team, which is something he wanted to do to enhance his swimming skills. He is very proud to say that he improved so much throughout the season, where he worked so hard to increase his record from 52 sec to 40 sec in his 50 Free and from 1 min & 45 seconds to 1 min & 30 seconds in the 100 Free. When he arrived, he was very nervous because he was coming from the French system in Lebanon. It wasn’t as hard as he thought.
"Whenever there was a chance to be a part of a community service, I made sure to step out and offer any help."