Dubai: Alyazia Sabra and her family are celebrating for a special reason this year.
When the IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) results were announced, Alyazia's came through with a special announcement - she gained one of the highest overall marks for drama, and was placed in the top-ten for results worldwide.
This is believed to be the first time that such an achievement has been won by a local student.
"It was a very big surprise, at first I didn't know that such an award existed and it's something that I worked really hard for. I was so happy and overwhelmed when I found out, because of what a big surprise it was - I'm actually really proud of myself, because I've accomplished something in a subject that I love," she said.
Alyazia found out about the top-ten achievement when she received a press release from the Edexcel examining board.
Ross Hall, Edexcel's International Director, said: "This is a tremendous achievement and testament to the hard work students put into preparing for their examinations. We send our congratulations to Alyazia Sabra."
Alyazia, 16, studied at the Emirates International School, Jumeirah, and has already taken on a number of challenging roles.
Challenging roles
"I do like to play different roles [on stage]. When I played Dorothy as a lead in The Wizard of Oz, she was quite a modern girl so it wasn't so new to me. In the play Antigone I played a prophet and he was an old man and blind, so it was very new and it was very much about physical theatre. He was one of my favourite roles, because I learnt so much and it was something very different - I really went out of my element. I definitely like a challenge in my roles," she said.
Alyazia first became interested in drama between the ages of 11 and 13, when she attended high school, and hopes to continue with drama studies as a minor, in addition to her other passions for Biology and Economics.
By Alice Johnson, Staff Reporter