From shy fourth grader to head boy: Rashid’s final year at Qatar Academy Al Wakra

Doha, Qatar: Eight years ago, Rashid AlGhafri walked into Qatar Academy Al Wakra, part of Qatar Foundation’s Pre-University Education, as a fourth grader who, by his own admission, was shy and introverted. This September, he returns as Head Boy for his final year.

“It’s the most important year,” he says of the year ahead. “Everything I do this year will directly impact my future.”

That weight sits alongside something softer. Asked what it feels like to know this is his last year at the school that’s played a significant role in shaping who he is today, Rashid says, “bittersweet.”

He’s excited for what’s next – medical school – but leaving a place he’s walked into nearly every day for eight years isn’t simple. “It’s hard to describe the feeling,” he says. “The memories, the teachers, the friends, the things I learned, the ups and downs – all of which built me.”

Rashid is very clear that he wants to go to medical school – a plan he settled on back in Year 10 and hasn’t wavered from since. The decision traces to something as simple as enjoying his biology classes – and to a school assembly where a visiting doctor described the arc from student to medical student to physician saving lives. “He really inspired me,” Rashid says.

The goal has stayed fixed ever since: Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar.

What’s changed is everything around that goal. Rashid describes his growth over eight years less in terms of grades than in terms of who he’s become – trading shyness for leadership, first as deputy head boy and now as head boy, a role he’s candid about not being easy. “There are many responsibilities,” he says, like organizing school events, keeping a team coherent, representing the entire school. “It’s pressure, but I can handle it.”

The school, he says, gave him the platform to grow into that role: opportunities to travel and represent Qatar abroad, school-led initiatives like the Green Flag Award, and his standout memory from this year – representing Qatar at the Global Peace Summit in Thailand, where he heard accounts from war survivors and connected with peers who shared his interests.

“It was a life changing experience. Representing my beloved country instilled in me a sense of duty and has inspired me to be the best version of myself in all walks of life.”

Although a keen volunteer today, Rashid is honest that he initially wasn’t sure he saw the value in it. “The first time I was asked to help at a parent-teacher conference, I thought it would be a waste of my time.” He tried it anyway, and it changed something in him: a sense that community service isn’t optional, but a duty each person owes to those around them.

He has since volunteered at several school events as well as international events, including at the Doha International Book Fair.

Asked what he’ll miss most when he graduates, Rashid doesn’t point to the accolades. It’s the teachers who have known him since he was a child. “Friends I can visit them out of school,” he says. “But teachers – not so much. So I will miss the teachers most.”

As the new academic year begins, more than 9,300 students have returned to Qatar Foundation’s schools, rejoining a vibrant learning community that nurtures academic excellence, leadership, and personal growth. For students like Rashid, the year ahead marks not only a return to the classroom, but another step in a journey of discovery, achievement, and preparing for the future.

Rashid’s advice to fellow Year 12 students starting the IB’s most demanding year: “Focus on time management and make sure you make use of all the opportunities the school offers. The aim is not just to shine academically but become well-rounded individuals that add value to the community and the country in different ways.”