I, too, had a dream

Based on Mr. Swan’s saying “Every leader has a dream” I will tell you a story called: “I, too, had a dream…”

A young and ambitious person I was, when I was 10 years old. I had lots of dreams. Every day someone would ask me “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and I’d have a different answer every time. I wanted to become a doctor, a teacher, a writer, a mother, I wanted to have a big family, and I wanted to be famous.

So what happened to all those dreams?

In 1994 I got married.

 I had a dream of becoming a mother, in 1995 I had my first son “Saeed”.

And in 1997 I had my next child a beautiful baby girl “Yasmeen”.

 In 1999 I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. Believe me it wasn’t easy, it was so stressful studying while nursing a baby, taking care of a sick toddler, and attending to a house and a husband.

After graduation I got pregnant with my third child, and then I decided to enter a school with the dream of memorizing the Holy Quran.

 I only memorized a couple of pages but just to stop to have my third child “Layan” another beautiful baby girl.

After having my third baby I realized that there were no Arabic books addressing the relationship between a child and Allah, so I started writing and publishing books for children. I published 6 books and had numerous book signings. There goes my second and third dream, I became a writer and I became famous.

 In March 2001 my Yasmeen got diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I turned into a doctor, nurse, and nutritionist in no time. I gave shots, checked blood sugar, and made meal plans. There goes my fourth dream, I became a doctor. I was 24, and honestly, looking back now, I was a baby with a huge amount of responsibilities.

 Any way dreams go on. In 2004 I had my fourth child “Maarya” and in 2007 I had my fifth “Muhammad”. So there goes my fifth dream, now I have a big family.

But that wasn’t enough, my next dream was to become a family counselor so I can control my children. And there I am, taking a diploma in family counseling and becoming a family counselor.

As a family counselor, I was asked to give lectures on parenting and other topics. So here I am becoming a teacher and a lecturer.

Did I stop? No! I still wanted more. I went to a career counselor and after talking to me he said “Hadeel you are a leader, go study leadership” so there I am, spending hours and hours of researching, reading, writing endless applications, participating in discussions, and learning as I’ve never learned before. In August 2011 I graduated with a Master’s degree in Leadership development and coaching. What a relief!

We forgot one dream along the way, memorizing the Quran. Well I was in and out of Quran schools since 1999, but in 2007 I was dedicated to finish the Quran. In 2009 I had accomplished my dream and was so proud of myself.

 I also formed a diabetes support group with three other mothers to help educate and support mothers with a child living with diabetes.

One more dream, I wanted to get away from all of that, just for a while, and Mosaic made that dream come true! Thank you Mosaic and thank you Allah.

With love, 

Hadeel