SHAHBAAZ :I’m a 19 year old student currently
studying at al muntazir Islamic
secondary, a fashion enthusiast.
One random day saw about this fashion
designing and photography competition
for young designer and photographers sponsored
by FASDO through my friends phone and
this crazy feeling told me I should give it a try just for fun, so I randomly
drew some sketches and sent them within few hours .
Few months had passed, I almost forgot
about the competition. Then came the date when the young top ten designers and photographers
all over Tanzania age ranging from 18-25 were to be announced through the
internet. So after getting back from school, just to get rid of my curiosity I
went online to check the results while scrolling through the text I came across
my name amongst the top ten designers. I was speechless, I was still processing
the information I was reading it was until then I realized I had made it to the
top ten I was really surprised in the most exciting way , that’s the day that I
first got attracted to designing
After the results were out I was contacted
and was asked to join camp for a week,
that was where we were trained and
competed to get into top five But
unfortunately the camp was one week before my exams (I was really sad that I
had to miss school) and I couldn’t let this chance go so after convincing myself
to go for it, that’s when the hard part came when I had to explain my parents
that I had to miss school , it was very
hard at first they straight away said no I couldn’t do this and could not miss
school after hours of explain and begging they finally said yes but with some
conditions one of them was to pass my exams and the other was if I couldn’t
make to top five I had to forget about my fashion dreams forever .
Then I started preparing myself for the
competition and for the exams at once. Then came the morning I was anxiously
been waiting for the day I had to go to camp I was really nervous I never had
such kind of experience. Once there I was really surprised I started wondering
where have I come ,everybody there was professional and experienced and me being there was just
did not feel right , slowly my confident started to decrease but was really
determined to become a fashion designer and I kept on hanging on .
The week was passing by really fast; I came
to learn so many new things and was officially introduced & attracted to
the fashion world and slowly got good at designing and stitching. Everyone
loved me there because I was one of the youngest contestants. After going
through too many tests and tasks the time when the top five were to be
announced was finally here. I was really sad that day I was not expecting to
get into top five at all and was thinking about my parent’s conditions on
leaving fashion I could not just I imagine leaving fashion, after getting
pulled by fashion, one by one great fashion designers name were being announced
into the top five until one spot was remaining and out of nowhere I hear my
name and burst into tears from the joy and happiness , quickly standing in my positions
trying not to cry I smile as the group photo was being taken. I truly was
overwhelmed by the exciting news and rushed to call my friends and family to
let them know what happened .that great news marked the end of our camp, We
headed back home to prepare for the finale now confident and determined to give
my best I set off to a whole new world where I had to handle my student life
and life as fashion designer.
Things were going great for me after I had
passed my exams and got full support from my parents. I was now a finalist and
had to present two outfits for a fashion show during the finale. really new to
fashion I set off to make my outfits myself with some help because there was no
tailor who could understand my ideas. I kept it really simple and elegant and
finished my outfits. As the finale arrived I prayed to god to give me strength
and confidence for the best. Sadly I did not win the competition but I did win
the award for the best personality with a certificate which was also a great
pleasure for me to win.
After the finale I realized I didn’t just
win a trophy and a certificate I won something more than that; I got exposure,
experience, confidence and really good friends which is much more worth it .After the finale one of the judges a famous
designer in East Africa Martin Kadinda
came to me and told me “you are the next big thing, only if you focus.
You have the greatest potential!!!!!” this just made my day taking his
statements as my inspiration and himself as a role model , I just think I could
be the next big thing
I then realized at a very young age being
able to achieve this within a short
period of time, this is just more than the most precious award I could receive.
Now confident I set off to take one more step towards my dream goal and going
as high as possible. There is nothing that can stop me now!!!!!!!
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