The UAE's top-scoring high school student, Yasmin Mahmoud Abdullah Mohammed Ali, would have received a lot of phone calls for her achievement. But none of them would have been as special as the one she received from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The leader took to Twitter on Sunday to post an audio clip of the phone conversation he had with the Emirati, who topped the pan-UAE public exams held at the end of the 2022-23 academic term.
The conversation starts like this: “Is that Yasmine Abdullah? This is Mohammed bin Rashid.”
He then congratulates her for the achievement. When asked which college she will be going to for her higher education, the student said she will choose from three universities.
Yasmine, who speaks Arabic, English and German fluently, aspires to study electrical engineering.
Sheikh Mohammed concludes the phone call by asking the student to send his regards to her family.
Yasmine has previously attended the dual credit programme at Khalifa University and the University of Sharjah. She was also nominated for the the Founder Leader's Award and recognised during the closing ceremony.
Sheikh Mohammed makes it a point to personally call high school toppers every year.
Yasmine said she was overjoyed at having received the phone call of a lifetime. She said Sheikh Mohammed's words of encouragement would motivate her to excel further.
In his tweet, Sheikh Mohammed congratulated all graduates and their parents. He also thanked all teachers and employees of the education sector for a successful school year.