My name is Rima Al-Sabbagh and I am 17 years old, living in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. I am in grade 12, studying at Dr. Charles Best Secondary School. My favourite subjects in school are Anatomy and Physiology and Mathematics. Outside of school, I love playing basketball, going on walks, and spending time with friends and family. While going on walks, I enjoy listening to music while sipping on my ice cold water. My favourite season is winter because I love seeing the rain and snow cover the streets while being cozy in my home. I was born in Baghdad, Iraq and moved to Amman, Jordan when I was four years old. There I was exposed to a similar yet slightly different culture and adapted to a new lifestyle, dialect, and culture where I made new friends, participated un activities and visited new places. Soon after, I moved to Canada, here I was very shy at first and didn’t know the language very well. However after a few days, I adapted easily and found that the diversity, hospitatliy and inclusivity welcomed me.
My passion lies in studying health sciences in hopes of becoming a dentist. My mom is also a dentist and growing up surrounded by dentistry, I have been inspired to become just like her. The details and complex structure that the teeth posses is very interesting to me. Fixing other people’s smile and healing their pain is truly what I want to chase. To comfort and reassure patients is what I look forward to doing in the future. My strongest traits are resilience and determination. When facing challenges, I always try to find a way out, bouncing back from setbacks and failures. I attempt to not let touch times stop me from moving forward.
If I could have a job right now it would be working at a candy shop. I love all types of sweets and working at a store like this would make me feel very excited too attend work everyday. I would enjoy serving and packaging candies, setting up creative displays and trying the different flavours. I consider one of my heroes to be my mother. She has shown me what true strength and hard work looks like. In Iraq, she studied and worked as a dentist for 13 years but after moving to Canada, in order to keep working, she had to take exams to regain her license. Even through the difficulties she had to go through she still kept showing up and did her best to prove to herself again that she is still the strong person she is no matter where she goes. This is why she is my hero. Her journey and experiences have shaped the way I view the world and my perspective on dentistry. She showed me that the impossible is only impossible until you do it.
Lastly, I am thrilled to see what IDS is like and the opportunities I get to experience. The category that I am most interested in is “Action”, where I get to volunteer and help out my community in a hands on exposure!
