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Nineteen-year-old Saudi Arabian Abrar Abdul Wahab Al Babtain, who is a management information systems student at the Al Yamamah University in Riyadh, firmly believes in the Martin Luther King quote that intelligence plus character is the goal of true education. She also believes that life experiences are essential in building character and enhancing one's education.
One of these experiences was the recently held Eighth Inter-College Environmental Public Speaking Competition hosted by the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) in Dubai. "Communicating with people from different nationalities and exchanging ideas really helped me build my character and improve my public speaking abilities," she said.
Al Babtain and her team trounced 50 teams comprising a total of more than 300 students from universities across the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) to win the first prize. They debated the topic 'Living in a Plastic World' and were the first non UAE-based team in the history of the competition to win since it was taken to a regional level in 2006.
Winning argument
Al Babtain argued that although plastic is part of almost every facet of our lives, people are unaware about its toxicity to the earth.
"We have undergone a plastic revolution using plastic every day but people are not aware of the disadvantages. They do not use the three R's of reduce, reuse, recycle," she said.
Al Babtain said her group suggested a fourth R, which is "remind" so that people could use cloth bags and reduce the use of plastic ones.
She said competition from the American University of Kuwait and some UAE universities was tough "but I believe in my abilities and worked hard to deliver our message".
Runners up
Second runner up in the 'Living in a Plastic World' category Sulaiman Foudeh of Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University said preparing for the event was a fun experience.
"For the first time, even while getting criticised, I had fun. I didn't expect that," he said.
Foudeh said his group was extremely nervous when they saw their rivals and did not expect to win.
"The adrenaline was pumping through my veins. When I walked up to speak I got stage fright but my team members' encouragement motivated me. The fear eventually disappeared," he said.
Speaking on clean energy in the 21st century, Manish Mordani from the American College of Dubai was ready for the challenge as he has been taking part in debates since he was 11 years old in India.
The business administration student said public speaking built his confidence over the years as he was initially very shy. "I'm more comfortable talking with people now compared to two-three years back. Public speaking has helped me in this regard plus it increased my vocabulary and made me more fluent in English."
For Mordani clean energy is his passion. "Back in India we support clean energy quite a bit with initiatives like hybrid cars. I would like to see more of these vehicles in the UAE," he said.
Shattering barriers
Organisers were thrilled to see so many students from the GCC express their concerns about significant environmental challenges facing the Earth.
They were especially pleased that Al Yamamah University allowed its female students to leave their country to participate in a regional event and compete with other universities and colleges without gender barriers.
"These girls came with great confidence and views, gave an excellent performance and took the other universities by surprise. They not only won the rolling trophy but scored the highest total in the history of this event," said EEG chairwoman Habiba Al Marashi.
Another first was that the ratio of female to male participants increased to 3:2.
Al Marashi said apart from presentation and speaking skills, the competition aims to motivate the youth of the region with respect to the environment, and sow the seeds of a lifelong attachment to it.
"The focus at the contest is on teamwork, aimed at encouraging the belief in a united fight for a common cause. The idea is also to present their observations and research before a select audience to influence the youth with environmental knowledge and skill building in order to address sustainability in the region," she said.
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