Latest News

This Is What It’s like to be 9 Around the World

Girls are most confident at age nine, studies show. So we asked nine nine-year-old girls from different countries around the world about their lives and dreams
Marie Claire
Solaf (Credit: Marie Claire)

SOLAF, AZRAQ REFUGEE CAMP, JORDAN

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“I want to become a hairstylist and a tailor and a doctor. A week has seven days, three of which I can be a hairstylist, three I can be a tailor and the last day of the week I can turn into a doctor.”

What are you most excited to do when you grow up?

“Get a dog who I will call Katy Lay. This is what I will do when I move to the United States [Solaf and her family fled the war in Syria.]”

What does your family love about you?

“My dad loves how smart I am and that I am so active and so strong… and that I act like a big girl.”

Head to unrefugees.org.au/MarieClaire for more information.

D I D Y O U K N OW Every 10 minutes somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence?

Léane (Credit: Marie Claire)

LÉANE, FRANCE

What is your favourite subject at school?

Science. I like doing experiments in class.

What are you most excited to do when you grow up?

I’d like to try doing theatre. Playing characters before an audience to make them laugh or cry.

What makes you sad?

This year I sprained my wrist. I had to wear a cast for three weeks. I couldn’t do any sports or play in the park. My friends helped me carry my school bag and my lunch tray.

What is your favourite thing to do after school?

Rollerskating with my friends. We race and do choreography.

What does your family say they love most about you?

My parents tell me that I’m someone who doesn’t give up and tries several times to succeed if necessary.

Hung (Credit: Marie Claire)

HUNG NGO NAM, HONG KONG

What is your favourite subject at school?

PE because it doesn’t have homework.

What activity makes you happiest?

I like dancing because I like moving my body.

What is the one thing you are most excited to do when

you grow up?

I can have my own mobile.

What do you love most about yourself?

I have a talent for DIY crafts like making clothes and accessories.

Babita

BABITA KULYAL, INDIA

What is your favourite thing to do after school and why?

I like to play badminton. During the Olympics, my friends and I played every evening.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a teacher in a school for poor children like me. They need help because they have got dreams, but no way of making them come true.

Tell me a time that made you feel sad.

I never feel sad.

What do you want to do when you’re older?

Dance! I love dancing. Whenever I have time I put on Bollywood music. I want to go to big halls where I can dance for hours and also teach others to dance.

Marika

MARIKA SHIMIZU, JAPAN

What are you excited to do when you grow up?

I want to research the human body, how the brain works.

Who do you love in your family?

I like my hamster. When she sleeps she bends her body and makes this shape, like a donut.

Tell me about a time that made you feel sad?

I don’t normally have upsetting things. But today I wanted to go shopping and Mum said, “No, we want to relax at home.” So I was upset.

Lexie

LEXIE MURRAY, AUSTRALIA

What is your favourite thing to do after school?

Mum will hate me for saying this, but I love watching TV. I also like after-school activities like netball, gym, hip-hop and cheerleading (that’s my uniform in the photo).

What do you want to do when you grow up?

Go to New York. My friends and I are all going to live there together.

Tell me a time that made you feel sad?

I only got to say eight lines in my recent school production. To stop feeling sad I decided to learn my lines really well and do the best I could.

What do you love most about yourself?

Everything. But most of all I like that I’m funny!

Dasha

DASHA (DARIA) LEONTIEVA, UKRAINE

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I might work in IT or be a stewardess. Stewardesses are beautiful and they go everywhere.

What are you excited to do when you’re older?

I want to have a rich husband, a small panda, and a big apartment.

What is your favourite subject?

I like nature-study because I love animals and sometimes my teacher brings some to class.

What makes you sad?

I miss Gorlovka [her home town] and our house. We left two years ago when the war began.

D I D Y O U K N O W 31 million primary school aged girls currently do not attend school

Sophie (Credit: Marie Claire)

Who do you love most in your family?

Anna! Anna is four years old. The best part of being a big sister is I get to take care of her, and she’s always depending on me.

What is your favourite thing to do after school?

Theatre. I like to be in front of everybody, and I like to sing and dance.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a designer for clothes or maybe an actress.

Mariam (Credit: Marie Claire)

MARIAM SAIDI, KENYA

What activity makes you happiest?

I like to play football with my friends. I play in my school shoes as I don’t have football shoes.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a doctor, so that I can earn money but also help people.

What are you excited to do when you’re older?

I would like to have my own house. I’m not thinking about boys as I am focused on my studies but if I do get married, I don’t want to stay at home and not go to

work.

What do you love about yourself?

My good figure!

Related stories