Rasha Al Deeb

As a child, I was the moderator of any game I took part in. I assigned roles while we were innocently playing, which emerged as a love for playing the role of a director and creating my own theatre from mere imagination.

My name is Rasha Al Deeb; I’m 26 years old. I’m a Director and Scenarist.

During social and religious gatherings, I used to seize the opportunity to show my talent for acting and directing, in the form of dances and spontaneous acts. And occasionally, I created plays to entertain, and bothered some children with my directorship.

I won't hide that I dream of becoming a film director and a visionary. When I started developing into one, I encountered rejection and criticism from the community simply for being a woman, and may remain faced with a harsh divide between my dreams and some of my family members.

My decision to enroll in the College of Arts and Media was faced with many challenges. Due to the overwhelming masculinity of this field, even from classmates and workmates, a woman should not specialise in whatever she desires or even be in a leadership position.

One of the problems I also faced while choosing my speciality was the notion that artistic majors indicated low intellectual abilities, while scientific majors indicated intelligence. Judgments have been made about my choice of arts and media: that I didn't excel, that I lacked the grades to compete with my classmates, and that I’d never get into a prestigious college or have a prestigious career. However, I have chosen to disregard these judgments, and my passion and love overrides the negativity.

I hope we’ll learn not to discriminate against people due to their specialities, intellectual abilities, or gender. But instead, what really sets us apart is our actions and determination to excel with our innate talents.