It was 5:30 am when morning August 2008. It was the first day of my high school career at one of the privet schools in Saudi Arabia that my uncle was the head-of. I was excited because my best friend Mishari joined the same school. As though, I knew it would be a tougher year studying with him, but it does not matter today. What mattered was that my brothers and I got ready for school. I walked to the school, which was roughly 15 minutes from home. My teachers were smiling to their students all the time and some of them were busy. Students were standing in rows in a big square. After we finished the Saudi National Anthem, we went as rows to our classroom. The teachers were switching out to other classrooms while the students would stay put. I already knew who my teachers were because my uncle told me about them, So, I got to skip the two days for the introductory classes. Definitely, I had chosen the back chair close to Mishari. The wall was behind us and the teacher could not see me because of the tall guy sitting in front of me. I actually loved to sleep in some classes, but when it was interesting, I was focused. Some of my teacher I did not like the way they taught, and that why I slept.

Mishari and I were always participating and challenging each other in high school, but he was smarter in some of science classes. During the lunch break, I ate my cheese sandwich with apple juice, and students went to the huge square to stretch after their classes and have fun with each other. Me and my friends have found a quiet place to sit our entire semester. After we all had our lunches, an athletic teacher watched us go to our classes. One of my classmates, he often teas the teachers in the class, and some students laugh to him. We began the semester with each other, and we studied hard together during the semester. In my leisure time, I hang out with him and the rest of our group, we sometimes love to shopping, eating, watching movies, and playing soccer. There was only one or two hours for studying in their house. Or either my house.

When I was in middle school, it was quite different, I was always staying with my cousin’s group outside or inside the school until Mishari joined our classroom. He sits close to my table and we started introducing ourselves. In this day, my whole routine has changed, I introduced him to my cousin’s group, then he liked and joined our group until they went different school after we had graduated from middle school. In that time, I liked to spend much time with him and his family, we were fifteen or sixteen years and loved to play soccer against him in his house. After that we decided to introduce our families to each other. And it worked well, my parents liked the personality and their career as fortunate.

My parents started hosting his family to our house to get to know each other better, I had a chance too, to get to know him and his routine better. I noticed certain type of man is this friend. He was a kind, powerful, ambitious, charismatic, funny, and crazy person. But I did not was focus in these kind. Because he was always serious and honest with me but not with my other friends. He felt comfortable with me. And that really why I spent roughly 6 years with him. That was the most interesting man, he has goals want to fight for them, and he was asking me for advises before he asks his family about them.

Back home after I finish school, my mother as usual, was preparing a delicious rice with chicken on the dinner table. I was gathering in front of my brothers and sisters waiting for my parents. My dad just came from his job. And we started eating our lunch. My father is a businessman, but he works in the Saudi Air Bases as a civilian. He is a Manager of Financial Affairs there. My father enhanced and advised me frequently when I was a child to major in business. I experienced lots of reactions and solving the problems from his work, because sometimes I drove him to his work and stayed in his office until he finished it. His eyes do not allow him to drive especially when it sunny.

My father had already supported my old brother to study abroad. My older brother Waleed, he was studying Respiratory Therapy (RT) in Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) for three years, and now he is doing his program in some of Pittsburgh’s hospitals. My father wanted me to study abroad because he wanted me to learn different culture and better education. I rejected this idea because Waleed and I were not communicating often we were child, I thought living with him is bad idea. There are approximately two opportunities to have great job after I graduate high school. My father offered two kind of jobs after I finish my school. But what coexisted in my mind is something more than that. I wanted to achieve my goals during my high school. But as first year student, my goals were a little complicated. 

Unfortunately, Mishari had a car accident before the end of the first year, and that made him delay his semester. I did not feel good about his situation. He could not walk after his accident, and he was most of his time with me, but he stayed in the hospital for 3 months. In that moment, I was worried about his setback. We had completed most of the first year. He wanted to graduate his high school with me, because, we had planed to graduate with a high grade with each other to take an opportunity to receive a scholarship to study abroad from our government.  But sadly, his accident prevented him from graduating with me. Even so, I continued my high school without him, and I visited him at the hospital every day.

I finished the first year without him, but when I was visiting him in the hospital, he advised me a lot to finish my high school with high grade to receive the scholarship. One other year carried without him, but I decided to not apply for the scholarship, and study in one of the universities in Saudi Arabia. Now, I am in the third year in school and about to graduate. In this time, my mind just wanted to get the high grade. And I worked hard to learn more information in two hours before any test and sometimes three or four hours for any exam. After the third year has done, I graduated with an acceptable high grade. Then I applied for certain universities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia My father wanted me to apply for the Saudi air bases to be a pilot officer, I was quite rejecting this idea at all.

I did not want to spend my future in the military, I wanted to have my own business and manage it by myself. One of the universities that I applied to, they accepted me to study in second semester because the first semester was full of students. I had to wait for them for one semester, but I did not stay home. I tried lots to work in any company for couple months, and search for universities overseas. Moreover, I decided to join an institute to study Mechanical Engineering, but it was quite complicated.