The 18-year-old was not content with the success she had achieved in graphics alone, so she also started making designs about social issues and events, using social media tools on the Internet like Facebook to spread her work.

Al-Mitairi said she graduated from secondary school last year and was not accepted at any of the universities in the Kingdom. “Since a very young age, I used to collect photos and write on them on my laptop. This simple hobby was developed into a profession of designing and graphics,” she said.

She recalled she first came to know about Photoshop from her friend Manar Al-Suhali while they were both in secondary school.

“I downloaded a program on my laptop and started playing with the photos. As time passed, the idea of designs and graphics started to fascinate me,” she remembered.

Al-Mitairi said her attempts in graphics began with drawing pictures of the famous Argentine football player Lionel Messi. “I love soccer, and my favorite teams are FC Barcelona from Spain and Jeddah’s Al-Ahli. I have excelled in this program without any formal training.”

Al-Mitairi said after perfecting designs of soccer matches and players, she started making designs of social events, which were more expressive and satisfying than sports.

She said she tried to deal with various social issues through her designs and graphics and got a lot of support from Internet users.

Asked about the moral support from her family, she said at first they were not supportive and told her she was wasting her time. They also warned her that the hobby might adversely affect her studies.  “Once I mastered the trade and my family saw the designs, they were impressed and started encouraging me, especially my mother,” she said.

Asked who discovered her talent, Al-Mitairi said she discovered it herself. “My teachers had no hand whatsoever in polishing my talent. They did not encourage or support me,” she said, adding that it was her fellow girl students who supported her and gave her ideas to draw. “I am definitely going to make designs and graphics my profession, and I hope I will attain a high position in the field,” she said.

Asked if she had participated in exhibitions, she said so far she had not. “I am still at the beginning of the road, but some electronic media have used my graphics,” she said.

Al-Mitairi recalled that a design she had made about some works of late Crown Prince Sultan was admired by many people and was used on the main page of Buraidah electronic newspaper.

She said she had participated in many forums on Facebook, on which she had become famous. “The other day, a newspaper used one of my designs. Today Arab News is interviewing me. What else do I want?”

Al-Mitairi is particularly proud of a design she made showing the popular support for Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.