By Aaron Cordy
CHASING big dreams requires dedication hard work and a belief that setbacks are only obstacles to overcome and not the end of ambition. The language barriers Mai Abdelmawgould faced whilst coming into her final years of high school did not stop her gaining entry into university to study medicine, nor did it stop her from becoming a Heywire winner and meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Egyptian-born Mai was raised in Saudi Arabia before making the trek to Australia six years ago with her family. She has always had a passion for school, but despite rapidly picking up the language, the nuance of English often meant Mai felt she was left behind by her peers.
“My English was good; I could speak it. My essay writing was not,” said Mai. “I was highly commended in every single subject except for English.
“Because from a very young age, I’ve been very passionate about school. It’s definitely something I learned from Mum and Dad. They taught me that if you have to do something, do it to your fullest.”
It was those setbacks that inspired Mai’s Heywire entry. A heartfelt essay about the struggles Mai faced with English classes when it is her second language. A battle she doesn’t face alone.
“In Year 10, I was in English class, and we were about to start this new part of the curriculum called writing about country. We got introduced to Heywire. It’s kind of like a framework to base our stories on and see what people are writing. We saw there were students from regional areas talking about the issues they’re facing and whatnot, and we were told to use it as your inspiration.
“I read probably 12 stories, and I can name a couple that I read already because they just meant a lot to me. I saw that there’s such a different writing style from what I’m doing at school. I hate writing essays and doing analyses on this Greek mythology. I just hate doing that. But I saw these people writing stories about themselves and their issues, and it was just so smooth, and it made sense in my head.”
With renewed inspiration, Mai wrote her story, sent it off and forgot about it. It was her story, and it resonated with her so much when she visited State Parliament with school she retold her tale, impressing more than a few MPs who asked if she had done public speaking.
Mai’s story didn’t win the first time around, but a producer from ABC reached out and asked her to resubmit it to Heywire. This time she was one of the winners and joined the cohort visiting Parliament House and meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Meeting the Prime Mister in the middle of the ‘Trump Tariff Phone Call’ drama, certainly made the trip interesting, but for the engaging young woman, it was connecting with fellow winners and the workshops that were her highlight.
“I made such a big group of friends over there, and they were like my family for a week. We stayed at the Australian Institute of Sport. We ate all the meals together. We worked together. We had fun together, we played, we laughed. But we also worked on project pitches.
“I had a group of four other people, and we worked with an ABC mentor on developing our idea. Our idea was something called How To Adult, basically like a social media campaign where we can make videos explaining life skills in a very digestible way, because someone like me, I’m about to move out of my house, and I know nothing about rent or how to budget for food or how to file for tax or how to change a car tyre.”
Those core values that embody Mai’s character, a keenness to learn and better herself, driven by a passion to help others have guided her to study medicine to become a paediatrician. But it was a story unto itself of how hard she worked and how close she came to not getting a university placement which she began last week. It was the love and support of her parents that helped this remarkable young woman on her journey, but also the local community who embraced her and her family.
“I’m so excited to finally go into hospital and see the real beauty behind it because it is such a fascinating place. It’s a dream I never thought that was going to be fulfilled. I want to pay back that gratefulness by doing good in what I want to do,” said Mai.
