randhamadah@gmail.com | https://randhamadah.wixsite.com/website |

When I first came to the UK in late 2016, I faced many challenges. I had to adjust to studying in a completely new educational system, in a language I didn't know very well. Despite these obstacles, I have completed five GCSEs, with art being the subject in which I excelled. The high standards of creative work I produced earned me an A* grade in my GCSE Art and the first place in the Portrait Competition in the 2019 Wales Creative Challenge. As a result, I was selected as one of the top five students in my school. I have always had a passion for design, and I wanted to study architecture to contribute to the rebuilding of my war-ravaged country. This passion led me to enrol on the BTEC Art and Design course at Cardiff and Vail College. During the two years of BTEC study, I received letters of appreciation from my college for consistently producing work of the highest calibre on all projects, and I got highest distinction marks as a result . One of my most prominent successes during this period was the selection of my design for a Cinderella-themed mural to decorate the lobby of the new theatre in Cardiff. I am particularly proud of the fact that the collection of artwork depicting some features of the Syrian crisis, which I did in collaboration with my mother, inspired the UK artist Dorothy Morris to set up a group exhibition entitled: What They Don't Want You to See. Moreover, one of my paintings was used as a poster for the exhibition, and another painting was purchased to be used as a cover for a book of poetry to be released soon in the UK. In addition to all my art-based activities, I have always been a chess player. I won the Damascus Junior Chess Champion title three years in a row, and a silver medal in the 2014 Syrian Junior Chess Championship. Chess, along with art, has provided me with much-needed focus and comfort during a difficult transition to the life in the UK. I was a member of the Cardiff Chess Club and represented my school in two school tournaments in Cardiff.