Salem an epitome of young Kuwaiti generation
– Editor
the moment he entered the American University Salem felt reborn with a new purpose in life. Besides studying and his other engagements at the university, he took a part time job (from 2012 till 2013) to improve his income, working as an assistant to Dmytro Roman Kulchitsky (Assistant professor of international studies and public policy at the American University): assisting in cross analysis of students’ performance via advanced experimental software, in order to aid faculty in enhancing the quality of the upcoming semester; he also became responsible for preparing and delivering class seminar on conceptual frameworks in relation to world history, and facilitated daily academic operations within the school department. Incidentally that first-hand experience taught him how to estimate every chance of success and failure with cool deliberation leading to the right decision in reaching an objective.
In 2013 Salem became a founding member of AIESEC (International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Science) in Kuwait assisting in the formulating and organizing the formative strategy of the AIESEC. That same year (2013 ) he worked in the US Commercial Service at the American Embassy, preparing market briefs, organizing and executing trade events such as the “Discover America” Festival of 2013, that promoted 110 US exporting firms over a five-day period.
Peaceful Salem is a peaceful young man but one of his invention he made when he was 18 years old and patented in 2013, is a deformable high velocity bullet, redesigned to improve modern ammunition to accommodate to the needs of advanced arms conflict.
Besides his engagements Salem could study for hours totally immerse in his quest for knowledge and that made him a straight “A” student. In 2014 he was awarded with a special scholarship for a semester program in foreign policy at the American University in Washington D.C, the same award was given to an Indian girl.
Going to the States he felt intimidated at the thought of the higher standard of education there; but he was surprised when he could pass the semester with flying colors. At the time he was in the States, in his quest for knowledge he took to reading about other religions than his own for a better understanding of their moral and social value in the lives of people.
The time Salem spent in the USA it was the happiest he ever experienced in his young life, unlike at home where one his judged according to his family social status, he felt respected and considered as a person not as the son of so and so. For the first time he felt treated with dignity as a human being and as a person.
At the dorm he was sharing a room with a young man who became his friend for life, helping, supporting one another. The one thing that made him sad was comparing his situation with that of other students coming from modest family background yet faring much better than he did in respect to income, in spite of he came from a rich country and from an elite family background.
The scholarship covered only his tuition, as for his living expenditure he was on his own. Living on bare essentials the little saving he had was not enough for his keeping, so he took a part time job at the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs responsible for delivering crucial administrative support, he also aided in consulting the publication department in revising their issue’s layout; as a journalist he was covering report conferences, transcribing and analyzing those conferences for publication.
In spite of he was living on bare essentials, he was happy; happier than he had ever been in his life, he felt respected, understood and appreciated for what he was. Such an experience gave him a new conceptual understanding of family other than blood relation; many of the men and women he met became like brothers and sisters to him.
Depression At his return home the negative atmosphere he had been taking for granted as normal before leaving for the States, suddenly became so oppressive that he sank in deep depression; he had been suffering from moments of depression all his life, but this time it was different, it became so oppressive and severe that nothing seemed to have any value for him. In his torpid state of mind even his feeling for the sacredness of university life had lost its appeal. He became careless of his attendance and of his study; he let himself go, careless of his appearance. Trying to snap out he went on medication but it didn’t help; even books in which he always found relief from despairing moods gave him no satisfaction. He was reaching the bed-rock of his existence when by chance he met one of his old friends from high school days, a kind soul and an artist, who helped him to pull through his ordeal, till at a point unable to reach out to him, he gave up.
That incidentally was the catalyst that shook Salem from his turbid state. Feeling completely alone he surrendered, he was only 22 years old but he felt as an old man weary of life, tired of fighting all the pains of the world weighing down on him. In that moment of total surrender he sank in prayer and prayed as he never prayed before, allowing the tears wash away all the pain, all the anguish from his soul, till suddenly he felt a new life energy rushing though his veins, pervaded by a transcendent consciousness that transported him into a new dimension in which the manifestation of essential life was presented in a glow of colors that eclipsed all awareness of pessimistic thoughts. The mystery, the nameless sensation that trended through his breast in those moments stemming from the abysmal depth of his being in a bewildering and fascinating paradox of feelings, brought vividly to his consciousness that mysterious substance in his soul that seemed more truly permanent and real. Washing away the tears he felt reborn. Buoyant and free from all encumbering thoughts that till then had pinned him down, he took to study with such a zest that he soon regained his old straight “A” standard and baffled his peers with his speedy recovery.
In the spring of 2015 Salem graduated from the AUK with a 3.74 GPA, a bachelor of internal relations and a minor in history. Now working in a steady job in which he puts to good use his analytical skill with particular attention to details that enhances his ability in problem solving and decision making, Salem is a happier person than he had ever been. Focused in continuing his education at the Diplomatic Institute for his Master and PhD in Political Science he is heading for a career as a diplomat or as a university teacher. As such he is an epitome of the young Kuwaiti generation that in reaching a critical mass will rebuild the country, making it again a shining example of development, as in the sixties when Kuwait was the torch of inspiration to all the other countries in the region.
Concluded