“Traffic’s heavier than usual.”

A common obstacle many people face in the UAE. However, if we look a little closer, is the real challenge the traffic? Or is the challenge everything that happens because of it?

Do you reroute and trust a road you barely know? Do you sit still and watch the clock rewrite your morning? Or do you call ahead, adjusting expectations that were set long before the delay?

Sometimes, the challenge is not the event itself, but the demand to adapt before you feel ready.

So, what becomes more important: teaching students how to follow a plan, or teaching them what to do when the plan no longer works?

At NAS Dubai, we encourage our students to embrace challenges with confidence as we acknowledge that resilience is not just about “pushing through". It is about learning how to think through uncertainty and to have the confidence to rework an idea rather than throw it away.

Student Spotlight: Jasmine Veriga

Year 13 student Jasmine Veriga recently displayed exactly that mindset through her final IB Theatre Studies performance.

Her solo performance explored the work of renowned theatre-maker Robert Lepage, celebrated for his innovative use of projection, movement, technology, and social commentary to challenge how audiences experience theatre itself. His work often asks difficult questions: What shapes human behaviour? How much control do we truly have?

Ironically, Jasmine’s own creative technique began to mirror those same questions.

Due to school closures caused by regional conflict, the structure of her performance had to be repeatedly reconsidered and redesigned over the course of two months. Staging plans changed, spaces changed, and the scale of the performance changed, and with every adjustment came another decision: overcome the disruption or allow it to reshape the work into something new.

Jasmine’s Reflection

“My devising process was impacted by school closures, which required me to adapt my staging intentions multiple times across the 2 months. Initially, I planned to perform at home, forcing me to reconsider the scale, positioning, and visibility of projections. Upon returning to school, I was able to re-stage the piece within a more controlled environment. This process of adaptation reflects Lepage’s flexible approach to theatre-making, where practical limitations inform creative decisions rather than restrict them.

I utilised shadow as a symbolic device to enhance meaning. Towards the conclusion of the piece, I stood in front of a montage of projected images while a voiceover stated that 'we are greater than just ourselves; we are the universe.” My enlarged shadow cast behind me reinforced this idea visually, suggesting being part of something vaster than oneself.

Finally, my use of physical theatre was central to communicating the theme of the piece. When portraying the puppet, my movements were rigid and mechanical, often mirroring the projections to emphasise determinism. As the piece progressed, my movement became increasingly fluid, symbolising the attainment of free will. This transformation reflects Lepage’s use of the actor’s body as an expressive tool and would allow the audience to physically perceive the shift in control, making the abstract concepts more tangible and emotionally impactful."

What makes Jasmine’s story memorable is not only the final performance itself but also the approach behind it. It would have been easy to lose momentum, to become frustrated by the repeated changes, or even to simplify the piece entirely. Instead, Jasmine used those moments of uncertainty as opportunities to think differently and deepen her understanding of the theatrical style she was exploring.

In many ways, the hurdles Jasmine encountered became part of the performance itself, reinforcing the very themes of adaptability, control, and transformation that her piece explored.

From the Head of Drama, Mrs Mack

“This resilience and creative flexibility made her final performance even more impressive, demonstrating both her artistic skill and her deep understanding of the theatrical style. Congratulations to Jasmine on such a creative and imaginative piece. We are incredibly proud of her achievement.”

Jasmine’s achievement has taught us how to move forward when the process gets interrupted and the outcome seems uncertain.

Resilience is not about letting the obstacle take control but about how we choose to respond to it. There will be moments where doubt appears, where the easier path feels like stepping back, and where uncertainty can make even familiar surroundings feel unfamiliar. Despite this, resilience exists in the decision to continue anyway, even when clarity hasn’t become apparent and confidence feels challenged.

At NAS Dubai, this is something we intentionally encourage in our students. We remind them that a hurdle is not a reason to stop but part of the routine of making progress. It's okay to pause, to question, and to feel uncertain; in fact, these moments are often where the most meaningful learning takes place.

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