JEDDAH, 18 July 2005 — Exposure to other cultures is a good way to develop both personal and professional abilities and skills, but not all young Saudis are able to travel due to work or family obligations. Instead many spend their summer vacation in self-development by other means.
Some spend their two months off improving their education. Suha Sami, a 20-year-old Saudi, has chosen to spend her summer vacation by taking a online diploma in natural sciences.
“I studied for years in school and university but without really being interested. So I decided to study something I really like during my vacation.” She added that in this way she would be able to learn a lot in a short time.
Yasser Mohi, 19, convinced six of his friends to take English courses at one of the ELS (English as a Second Language) centers in Jeddah. “I did not reach the level of English I wished to reach in school, so I decided to get it at the language center.”
Several 18-year-old girls hired French and Spanish teachers to help them become fluent in the respective languages.
Sarah and Maha Saleem, cousins from 12th grade, wanted to shift their focus from education to entertainment. They wanted to spend their vacation doing something enjoyable after the stress of their final exams.
“We wanted to do something we could enjoy so we chose to take piano and tennis lessons,” Sarah said. “The days are long, so we can both study and go out or go shopping at night.”
Maha said they were encouraged by a couple of their friends who took basketball lessons last summer.
Noor Sameer suggested a new way for one of her two daughters to benefit from her vacation. “I told her that instead of searching for a job, I would pay her for doing house work. Since our maid was on vacation, I told my eldest daughter that I would pay her SR500 if she cooked for us everyday. I also mentioned that if she was creative and came up with new recipes and made nice table decorations she would receive tips.” Noor added that she used the same way with her younger daughter to convince her to do the rest of the house work. Both daughters agreed.
Although many Saudis want to improve their skills and abilities, some just want to get a certificate of work experience. Therefore, a large number of females and males went searching for jobs.
Some will be trained and paid, for example in banks. Others hold part-time unpaid hospital jobs. Many companies received inquiries from young Saudis asking for job opportunities.
By choosing what to do, our young people enjoy what they do and therefore excel. They have found ways to learn something new and at the same time be useful. With luck, they will also get paid.
