When you achieve big, it is hard for people not to recognise it. The first such acknowledgement usually comes from your peers and instructors at college who primarily inculcate in you the traits that make you shine.
College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) does this regularly. In recognition of extraordinary achievements made by its students in different fields, the college awards them. At the recent 14th Annual Awards ceremony for the third year, the college gave awards to dozens of students for their special achievements in academics and extra-curricular domain.
Community spoke to three of the special achievement award-winners to get an insight into what makes them stand out and their future plans.
Jabor Abdulla al-Kuwari, a Business Administration Human Resource Management student, was awarded ORYX GTL Academic Excellence Award in Entrepreneurship for demonstrating outstanding entrepreneurship skills in the college or community.
“I started my business at the same time when I started my college four years ago. I started my Diet House restaurant and Supplement House restaurant. And from one branch of each one of them, I now have five branches across the country,” al-Kuwari tells Community in a chat at the awards ceremony.
“Along with my business, I have been studying at the Business School in the second year of Human Resources. It teaches me how to apply what I learn at the college in my business practically,” he explains.
Al-Kuwari says studying HR has helped him a great deal in his business, for instance, to identify the weaknesses and fix them or further improve on certain good points.
“I am a healthy lifestyle person. I started healthy concept and shop because I am interested in this area. I launched a very small restaurant in Bin Omran with 20 employees and now I have 200 employees,” says the young entrepreneur and student.
In the beginning, he says, he was the only one in this market. There were not many people interested in healthy food concept. Now more people are taking interest in the field so there are competitors, too. But al-Kuwari draws confidence from being the first. “I am the ‘old-is-gold’ one,” he says, smiling.
But he acknowledges it is difficult to manage business and studies simultaneously with no time left for anything else. “But I like it. I know it is temporary. I want to continue studies and complete my Bachelor’s here at CAN-Q,” says the young businessman.
His role model is American body building champion-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, who “works hard and successfully juggles many roles.”  
Heba Mohamed al-Raeesi, a Business Management Marketing student, was awarded ORYX GTL Academic Excellence Award in Leadership for demonstrating outstanding leadership skills in the college or community.
From the day she entered college, she has come a long way. She began her journey by becoming the Student Representative Council President and since then has represented the college on many platforms besides volunteering for multiple causes both inside and outside the college.
But to achieve that, she had to overcome many hurdles. The first challenge was to overcome introversion. “When I first entered college, I was a very shy person. I was the kind of person who would go straight to class and back home. I could not even talk to a male student,” recalls al-Raeesi.
“I am a Qatari woman and went to a government girls’ school where you do not interact with males. So being here at CNA-Q, it was a challenge for me to interact with males and initially, very uncomfortable,” she admits.
But then, al-Raeesi says, she told herself it was her choice to leave a great impression or leave the college as a “nobody”. And she was glad that she chose the former and is leaving an impression for which “people would always remember me”.
“I have become a part of the CAN-Q family. My instructors are very supportive. Whenever there is something to do, they come looking for me and that makes me proud. If there is an issue, they know Heba al-Raeesi will resolve this issue,” the young student leader proffers.
She says to be a successful leader, one needs to have the ability to deal with his or her audience besides humility and respect for others.
“Here, everyone knows me because I am always there for them. I am supporting them in every event both inside and outside the college. I do it to be someone that inspires them and be someone who her friends and family can be proud of,” says Heba.
She says her biggest inspiration has been her elder brother Tariq al-Raeesi. “He guided me the right way. He gave me the confidence I needed,” al-Raeesi acknowledges. The other members who support her are the Qatari Youth Club, she says.
Rida Ambareen, a Pharmacy Technician student won ORYX GTL Academic Excellence Award in Sport for showcasing outstanding sportspersonship in the college or community.
She has won many accolades in different competitions, particularly badminton and swimming besides maintaining a flawless academic record.
She says her abilities are gifted, but she did not get too many opportunities before entering CAN-Q to polish these qualities. “The college has given me ample opportunities. They trained me. There are a lot of good trainers in this college, who helped and supported me. Besides, there are counsellors on the campus who guided me on what suitable programmes were available,” says Ambreen.
“They made me aware of the suitable programmes and helped with everything from enrolment to performance. It was all very well organised so it became easy for me,” she recalls.
She is proud of maintaining her GPA of 4.0 in three consecutive semesters. Besides, she has been able to participate in all the sports tournaments on campus.
Her achievements include those in badminton and a swimathon she won for swimming the largest distance. It was calculated at 1,400 metres approximately.
“If I get a chance in future to achieve something bigger with my swimming skills I would definitely do that. I think the environment here in college is really good which is why I have been able to continue swimming,” says Ambreen.
She says her parents have been a huge support, too. They have always backed her in a big way and thus she has been able to achieve big.