Khader Samer: Unlucky Winner

Always dressed casually, usually in jeans and shirt, Khader Samer is calm and serious. The civil engineer student who won the Tribune

Courtesy of Khader Samer

 draw, explains that he “did not even know that there was a prize or a draw” when he liked the Tribune’s page.

During our event few weeks ago, we asked people to enter a draw, promising we would feature an article about the winner in the Tribune.

This win might come to twist the19-year-old’s luck after breaking a cycle of bad luck.

“I consider myself really unlucky because nothing works with me and I have never won anything in my life before this time,” Samer said.

Samer recalls an incident that had taken place during his childhood, when he was stuck in an elevator for six hours with his younger sister with no food or water. “I was only twelve years old, we got stuck between two floors so they had to dig a hole between the floors to get us out,” he said.

When Samer entered a draw to win a plasma screen, he bought ten tickets to increase the chances of winning. Realizing that his friend did not have any tickets, Samer handed him one of his ten tickets, which turned out to be the winning one.

When he was a child, Samer was taken by the idea of traveling around the world and exploring new places. He wanted to become a pilot. Samer entered a draw to win a trip to Morocco. His own sister, Iman Samer, won first prize while his brother, Abdulaziz Samer, finished second.

“I was left empty handed,” he said.

On another occasion, Samer bought expensive clothes, only to find that the same items were put up on sale the next day. However, even that was less frustrating than having to wait for his friends to pick him up for two hours at an airport.

“We had decided they would pick me up from the airport since I do not know anyone there but them,” Samer said. “I guess at that time they forgot that I was coming or maybe got stuck in traffic, really cannot remember why.”

But the recent past might be a promising start of a possible shift to good luck. Samer reveals that he is particularly lucky in football, his favorite hobby.

Last Wednesday, the Jordanian football club played against Armenia at LAU and left their fans cheering as they defeated with a score of 9-6.

“Last year, we played a mini football tournament and we won,” Samer said while smiling.

By Lyn Abu-Seraj
LAU Tribune staff