|
He's 16 years old and calls himself a perfectionist. He says he cannot stand failure and always strives to be the best at everything he does. Rashid Arif is a grade 12 student at Al Khaleej National School in Dubai. What is so special about him and how did we get to know about him? He simply gave Notes a call and asked to be interviewed for a story.
His reason: "I have built and designed six websites so far. Three concentrate on medicine, two on Islam and one is an open forum for discussions. So I want to be featured".
Young ambitions
The UAE national is the youngest in his class. His ambition is to become an orthopaedic doctor one day. "I get high grades at school and I wish to study medicine. I am extremely interested in bone structures and in becoming an orthopaedic [doctor]. I am still thinking of where to study though," he said.
He has narrowed it down to the US, Germany, the UK and the UAE.
However, his dreams are not limited to medicine.
He hopes one day to be able to make a website and pay for it with his own money.
"I need to have money to pay for my website. If I don't for a month, I would lose it," said Rashid.
Websites
So what is so special about his websites?
"Well, I created a website that concentrates on cardiology and heart issues and I have two websites that look at orthopaedics and the human bone structure," Rashid explained. "Every month I update the websites' information. I look up websites and books, take news from newspapers and magazines and provide links to relevant information."
His two Islamic websites, however, carry poetry, photo gallery, information about Islam, and a collection of verses from the Holy Quran.
"I love Islam and all its religious subjects. So I decided to start two Islamic websites, one in English and the other in Arabic," he said.
His forum, however, is open to participation from online users everywhere.
"I have a special section for car fans, school issues, where students from school join in and write about anything like what happened at school, what they like, dislike, about teachers and classes. Then there is a section for mobile phone enthusiasts and a section for aircraft fans," he said.
Are his websites popular?
Rashid doesn't know how many hits and entries his websites get.
"I really don't know, but I know that many people are interested," he said confidently.
When he created his "bone websites" as he called them, he went around the neighbourhood plastering posters to advertise them.
"I received an email from the company hosting the websites that they were flooded with emails from people asking about my website," said Rashid.
He added that before posting any information, he tries to verify the credibility of information. "I read everything and check the facts before I post them online," he said.
Rashid's family was not very impressed with his work to begin with. "I live with my grandmother — she basically raised me. In the beginning she didn't think I was serious about my work on the websites, However, since noting that people have started paying attention, she has been very supportive," he said.
His other interests
In addition to his love for medicine and interest in web making and design, Rashid is also into calligraphy, basketball and tennis.
Rashid has also passed five stages of the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) course and has two left.
He is also a recipient of the Hamdan Award for Academic Excellence and has participated in a number of information technology competitions.
List of Rashid's websites:
www.skeleton.coms.ph (under construction)
www.humanbone.coms.ph (under construction)
www.heart.coms.ph (under construction)
www.eslamiate.8k.com
p4.forumforfree.com/eslamiat.html
|
