If I had to describe the life of an Abu Dhabi teen in one word, I’d say colourful. For instance, a boring week at school could only be described as grey, the drabbest colour I could think of, while the concert-filled weekend at the end of that week was a shining silver lining to that grey cloud of education.

At school, my friends and I decided to go to the concert together, a little yellow ray of sunshine, and I actually managed to get a couple of tickets to the concert thanks to two lovely people I know, a burning orange sunrise of joy. Unfortunately, two hours before I was all set to leave, I found out I had math tuitions that evening and so my mum said I couldn’t go, which really made me blue.

Epic, I know.

The weekend after that one, though, made up for it. Colour? Red, black, white and green! National Day 2010 had it all – the lights got brighter, the decorations on each car were better than the next, the fireworks display was even more extravagant than last year’s and it sure did get even noisier.

All the commotion evoked the patriotic side of me I never knew existed! It’s not that I don’t love the colours of the flag of the country I’m from – it’s just that after spending my entire life in Abu Dhabi, I really feel like I belong here.

Abu Dhabi gives us plenty to boast about – the golden sand dunes, the cool aqua water of the gulf, the deep navy of the starry night sky. My personal favourite, though, has to be the red, white, black and yellow of the fastest roller coaster at the Ferrari World theme park.

With all those gorgeous colours, I guess I could also use another word to describe the life of an Abu Dhabi teen – simply, beautiful.

Sanah Chauhan, age (almost) 18