Good evening
are there any art teachers in the audience?
that teach how to draw and color?
thank God there aren't!
When I was in the 7th grade, I used to hate art
and to draw and color
my hand used to shake so I wasn't any good at it
and I had an art teacher as a kid
that noticed my weakness
and wouldn't give me a chance and just gave up on me
one day, she gave me a piece of clay
and told me to do whatever I want but without touching any colors
so that's what I did
and I put my whole heart into it
and got my hands dirty so I went to wash and came back to dry them off
so I asked my art teacher if she had any tissues I could borrow
I remember how that day she was working
and looked at me and said
 "yes, I do have tissues but those are for my use only"
ever since that day and for a long time afterwards,
I wished to learn how to draw
and learn how to color
so I can become an art teacher myself
and when a students asks me for tissues, I'd give him an entire box
and offer him even more if he wishes to ask
Generally, I was never good at school
and here is my 7th grade report card to prove it
My average was 63% and I failed two subjects
one of these two subjects was
Thank you
one of these two subjects was Islamic studies
which was the subject I'd always get the lowest grade in
the previous month, I got a grade of 6/20
but I wasn't stupid
my mind wasn't closed up.. On the contrary, I loved to think
I used to spend hours imagining that we lived in a world where time can be sold
then I would debate myself on what would five minutes cost 
and that it must be more than 7 million
so the rich will take all the time and the rest will suffer
I was only good at two things
first was letting my imagination run wild in classes
and second was writing
I read a lot therefore, I loved to write
imagining and spacing out during classes
always got me in trouble
so we grow in an educational system
that prohibits us from letting our 
 imaginations run wild and brains wander
where we have to put limits and boundaries
this definitely wasn't intentional
but this is what we face
and this is what unfortunately, 
is killing the creativity in many of us
This is one of the things that I hoped to accomplish
that and getting the Nobel Prize
but Oprah ended her show so maybe I should give it up
this is one of the writings I wrote as a kid
the one on the left shows
the very first time I even thought of publishing a book
the first time I told myself that I will publish whatever I write
and since it was my first attempt, it wasn't successful
first attempts rarely are anyways
but instead of feeling bad about it, 
I kept it and I still have it till this day as motivation
to remind myself that I have on keep on trying
and so, I kept on trying, writing and spacing out
and getting in trouble for it as well 
until I wrote the attempt on the right
I was 14 years old at the time
when I went to my dad and told him that I wanted to publish a book
and he took me seriously
the normal reaction you would expect from a dad 
in this situation with his 14 year old daughter 
is a sarcastic "sure! why not?"
but he didn't and asked me about 
what formal papers I needed
he then ended up reminding me of what I had to do
and of all of my appointments 
so
 I kept on writing, imagining and getting in trouble
until I got to where I am today
and I will not stop here
I will keep writing, imagining and getting into trouble
until I accomplish everything I set my mind to
my mum and dad weren't always
so supportive
just like everyone, it took them time
to learn and adapt
One of the things I remember
I was 10 years old
in the 5th grade
and there was a problem between two girls in my class
which I had nothing to do with at all
they went to the teacher
and they put the blame on me
and I really had nothing to do with it
Adults usually do this...
When they think a child is guilty,
they don't ask  
instead, they talk as if they're sure of it
whether it's true or not
and the poor kids believe it as well
and end up telling you exactly what you want to hear
and that's what happened with me
they brought my dad from work
and I embarrassed him over something I didn't even do
the only thing that really hurt me was
when I looked my dad in the eye and told him
"I didn't do it", he didn't believe me
but I don't blame him that he didn't
because as they say "There's no smoke without fire"
and he can't believe that the school called him
to come from work over something I had nothing to do with
it's impossible for a school to make that mistake
I wish parents could understand that
self-confidence, moral support
 and motivation
comes from home and nowhere else
and that if they don't support and motivate their kids, 
one of these two things will happen:
the kids' talents will fade away
and they will be dumbed down
or they will look for another outlet 
like smoking, drugs and many other problems 
that our youth faces today and society is still trying to solve
everyday, teachers are in classrooms
 with at least 24 students
and those will be the future leaders of tomorrow
and of the society we live in now
sadly, this is still a responsibility we take lightly
giving no importance to what a teacher should be 
so
there's something wrong with our educational system
 I never taught nor raised any kids
but I experienced this system for myself
 and I can say something is definitely wrong
let me back this up with a few examples
these logos behind me are known to all of us
they represent teaching and any higher education 
my question is:
why do they all show books and nothing else?
why? why wasn't it someone thinking?
why wasn't there a violin next to these books?
why not a paintbrush instead?
why do we only relate education
to things that need substantial attention?
education needs skill and hard work
another thing I'd like to point out is
something we all know
in the report cards, certain subjects are not included in our average
which are physical education, arts and music
that's one of the simplest examples 
showing how the educational system drives us
to ignore subjects that actually require talent and creativity
why am I standing here today talking about the educational system?
I was applying for my driver's license 
and two women were sitting next to me
one was telling the other that she taught KG
so the other woman asked "what does KG stand for?"
her answer was" it stands for Kids Jordan"
and I'm sitting there thinking to myself
the teacher herself
doesn't know that KG stands for kindergarten
and what's worse is that she doesn't know
that her country, Jordan, starts with a "J" and not a "G"
however this doesn't represent all teachers
and I wouldn't be standing here
if I didn't come across some teachers that were truly amazing
I wouldn't be here if they didn't inspire me
and touched my heart
the position of being a teacher
is taken for granted
beyond belief
so what's the solution?
we are all here to find a solution
this is how I see it
I saw how the current system works
because I spent 12 years speaking only when I'm spoken to
God willingly,
and if I deserve this position
I want to teach "Kids Jordan" someday
hopefully
I have something to say to all the innovators and creative thinkers
I still hate art
thankfully there aren't any art teachers here today
my hand still shakes but I found an art teacher
her name was Miss Hanady
she didn't give up on me and instead gave me a chance
and she's the reason I was able to draw both of these paintings which I consider an achievement 
and I still hate colours and art
but I pushed myself
and that was the result
to all innovators and thinkers,
I always got the lowest grades in religious studies
but it's the thing I excelled at the most in my life 
because it gave me faith
everyone is free to their own beliefs 
whatever your faith is, you have to believe in it wholeheartedly
with total devotion
even if what you wanted was on the other side of the world
challenge yourself
because I'm telling you, nothing is impossible
